Girls Und Warhammer 40k
by ZXZX10000
Summary: In the 40th millennium, there was only war. Now, in the 45th, there's still war, but far less for the most part. A group of Guard recruits are thrown into a tank battle tournament to train in their relative peace-but will soon learn that it's not just victory they're fighting for, and their very lives and souls are on the line...
1. Peace

Girls Und Warhammer 40kChaper 1: "Peace"

"... Now of course, everyone of you should know that in the 42nd millennium, the STC for our holy emperor's throne was discovered beneath Mars in a long buried vault. I assume one of you can tell me how?"

Nanta raised her hand almost immediately. She'd been waiting for this part.

"Sir, the machine spirit of a Termite drill was said to have gone berserk, taking control from the crew and directing itself into the vault. The crew said it was as if it knew where to go all on its own." she responded before being asked. She'd been the only one to raise her hand anyway.

"Correct. Though it took many years and the loss of much of the Salvation Crusade that was put together specifically for the task, the materials for its repair were gathered and taken to Holy Terra. Once repaired it was able, over the next half millennium to slowly heal the Emperor back to full health, as you also should all know. Under his guidance, the imperium gained victory, or made peace with much of the Galaxy over the last three thousand years. The Orks were semi-pacified by his sheer psychic might, mostly content now to simply stay on the planets or ships they had made and fight each other. The Tau were forced into the imperium-this, we believe was inevitable and would have happened much sooner had the imperium had the resources to share. Now, the Eldar?"

The girl sitting next to Nanta rose her hand this time.

"Sir. The Emperor was able to breach a path into the web-way while sealing any other entrances and turning the web-way itself against them, removing the Eldar's ability to manoeuvrer. Herded into only a few select areas and a war of attrition they'd normally avoid, they too were forced into surrendering and peace."

"Correct once again. I must admit, our new Cadians recruits are impressing me, their reputation is well earned it seems. The rest of you would do well to listen and learn." the Sargent sighed, looking at the three Savlar Chem-dogs lazing in the corner of the briefing room in a thin haze of green smoke. One of them looked up a little but not at the Sargent. Instead, she glanced over at the black capped Commissar sitting across the room by the shabby cluster of Catachans. However, she didn't seem to move and the chem dog's sense of unease quickly faded as she returned her attention to scratching something into the desk.

"So, can any of you tell me about the Necrons? How did we deal with them?"

A metal tentacle tipped with a wrench-like claw snaked its way into the air from the back of one of the quartet of tech priests in the front row of desks.

"The term deal is rather apt here I think. Szarekh, the Silent King came to the Emperor of his own free will and offered a trade. The Blackstone technology that could close the Eye of Terror, and a permanent ceasefire in exchange for every Necron Tombworld and the Necrons contained within." her voice sounded-though it was a synthesized voice that came through the vox hailer permanently attached to her face. At this, the Commisar stirred suddenly.

"Is something wrong Commisar? Her answer was correct as far as I'm aware."

"Correct it may be, but this action was one of immense heresy. Every other race was brought to heel as should be. This was a terrible admission of defeat." she responded, a grave seriousness to her words. The three Savlar had sat up, looking wary and trying to fade into the corner further than they already did.

"Still, it is not up to us mere mortals to question his methods. And in fact, we know his reasons in this case. With some of the pressure already relived from the imperium this move was an opportunity to finally gain ground on our arch enemy. Chaos. The technology the Necrons traded allowed for the closing of roughly 90% of the Eye of Chaos, a tremendous victory many would call worth even a drastic defeat. Now, which of the other major enemies have we not named?"

"Da bugs right?" the pink haired Chemdog called out, not bothering to raise a hand.

"Bugs?"

"Umm, I think she means Tyranids..." one of the local Vostroyans volunteered in a sheepish voice, not looking quite at the Sargent, though her milky white eyes quickly showed the Sargent why, not that she didn't already know. The three Vostroyan girls were all wounded in some way. The one that had talked had been caught out for several days in a blizzard and permanently snow blinded. One had been deafened after an explosive accident in a flash bang factorum that had left the entire district in a similar state, and the other, a low level mutant had been born without a functional voice box and was entirely mute. They'd been grouped together though schooling and learned to cope as a unit, something that the older imperium's rigid bureaucracy would never have condoned.

"Well well, one of you dogs was listening after all! Yes, assuming she did mean Tyranids, they are considered the biggest potential threat to the Imperium. Their existence has been made widely known by the Emperor himself, alongside knowledge of many other imperial enemies." the Sargent stated, pausing for a moment then following up with "The Tyranids are however, as far as we are aware, hiding, insomuch as their swarms are capable of doing so. On the very day of the Emperor's re-awakening their attacks halted on the spot. Their ships turned around, or halted at nearby planets. For reasons un-known, they have progressed no further, going into their own forms of stasis sleep to preserve themselves. Now, any others?"

One massive hand raised slowly upwards. An enormous Bullgryn about four times larger than the diminutive Ratlings she was sat with spoke in a booming but slow voice.

"Gene-Stealers."

"Ah yes, the Gene-Stealer Cults. A sub-faction of the Tyranids. Mostly set-up as long term heralds of an invasion. Unlike many of our enemies, their presence has if anything intensified though their attacks have all but stopped. They are still considered active enemies of the imperium and shot on sight. Now, I believe there's one left we've yet to cover. Anyone?"

"Those Dark Eldar scumbags!" one of the Catachan called out to quiet cheers of approval from her comrades. It was a mark of how much hatred the Dark Eldar elicited that their commissar did not scold them for that.

"Indeed. Kidnappers, torturers, raiders and worse. The dark Eldar have evaded even the Emperor, since their home city, Cormmorragh has thus-far avoided the Emperor's holy light. Their raids continue, but we repel them with as much hatred as ever and advances in some areas have allowed us to better predict them."

At this, the Sargent paused for a moment, then without warning rapped her cane loudly against the board, making the entire classroom jump aside from the Commissar, who smiled very slightly.

"AND THE FACT YOU DON'T ALL KNOW EVERY BIT OF THIS IS, FRANKLY, AN EMBARRESMENT TO YOUR ENTIRE HOME PLANETS!" she suddenly yelled, causing everyone to jump again and a few of the smaller members of the room to shrink back slightly. "Honestly, your lack of knowledge is frankly pathetic. You may all have known bits and pieces but you should all be aware of every enemy of the imperium. Especially considering what you're going to be doing. You are of course, all here to join the Astra Militarum. What you have not yet been told is that you sorry saps actually rated somewhat higher in the entrance tests than the majority of the rabble. In fact, you lot, are going to become Tankers."

There was a murmur of conversation here. They'd all wondered why they hadn't been directed the same way as the majority of the others that had taken the test earlier that day.

"Alright, that's enough. You could consider this a promotion or maybe the easy route. Don't. As tankers, you bear more responsibility than those on the ground. You will be sent against enemies of far greater strength, and believe me when I say that while your tanks offer protection, they also paint a target on your heads for the more powerful weapons of the enemy. It'll be your responsibility to destroy those weapons and protect those on the ground."

More murmuring ensued, this time darker in tone.

"Oi oi! Why'd we 'ave to get promoted? I dun' like the sound of bein' stuck up in metal box getting blasted at!" the red, spikey haired Salvar suddenly called out loudly, standing up and knocking over their desk. The Commisar turned to them, glaring.

"Ah, well, it ain' as if oi's complaining... Just sayin' maam, oi'm surprised the three of us gots such 'igh scores." she said, her voice suddenly much quieter.

"Hmm. Daisy, is it?" the Sargent asked.

"Oi oi, it ain' Daisy, I'm called-"

"That's what it says on your form so Daisy you are as far as I care. Ex gang I assume. Here, you're called by your real name, not whatever they called you. By hook, crook or possibly cheating considering the reputation of your people, looks like you and your little mob here did indeed get graded well enough to get here, and you, alongside everyone else are now stuck here whether you like it or not. And in fact, I think it's time I tell you what you're all doing here, beyond simply learning how to man the tanks you will be using out on the field. In order to get the best performance out of you all, you're going to be trialling the Imperium's newest training program. Commisar Blue here has the details, so I'll turn you over to her now."

"Thank you Sargent." Blue responded politely as she stood and moved up to the blackboard. "So, the new program. In this state of relative peace, we have a unique opportunity to train you all to a higher standard than we could do before. There's very little pressure to recruit from this sector and command has informed us to use the relative peace-time we have to train you all in a series of mock battles. In order to give you the widest combat experience possible, you will not only be fighting fellow guard teams-though be assured, you will be fighting our neighbouring training centres, but even Xenos and their war machines brought in specifically for the task."

There was silence for a moment. Then, Nanta raised her hand once again.

"When will these battles be starting?"

The Commisar gave an evil grin.

"Oh, the end of this week. You've got six days to learn before your first match, which will be against the Tau. And, one other thing. We're leaving it up to you to find your war machines."

There was a cry of outrage from the room. One of the Catachan called out in a voice of panic.  
"What?! What are we supposed to do, just FIND some random tanks lying around?"

"Yes, actually. You might have to go scavenging yourselves for vehicles someday if you own machines are disabled so we're testing your abilities here too. We've ensured there are enough vehicles around in this district for all of you this time but it is entirely down to you all to locate them. You can take whatever machines you find assuming they aren't already in use, and it will be down to you all to organise yourselves. We'll be holding training sessions in two days time, I expect you all to have found something by that point. Oh, and one other thing. If you don't find anything you'll be going in on foot. Well? What are you all waiting for? Dismissed!"


	2. Tanks and where to find them

Girls Und Warhammer 40kChaper 2: "Tanks and where to find them"

Commisar Blue made a brief motion to the Catachan girls and they snapped to attention, following her out the room. There was silence for a moment.

"So... um, how are we going to search?" one of the Cadian girls, known as Tori asked to the room at large.

"Well... We'll have to split up, we'll never cover enough ground in two days if we don't. I'd recommend doing so by planet of origin, forming small searching groups." Nanta answered, looking around at the room. "We Cadians will take a look around the wrecking yards, see what we can find."

"You'sll all be killed or mugged if ya go poking around the underhive, even on the outskirts. I t'ink we'll get that 'un eh girls?" Daisy responded, then upon getting no response, clapped the other two Savlar around the backs of their heads "Or I can always tell them your names too!"

"Alright, alright! We're going, we're going!" one of them responded and the three slouched out the room.

...

"How about you three? Any ideas?" Nanta inquired towards the three locals. One of them didn't seem to respond while the blind one turned, but looked somewhere over Nanta's shoulder.

"We'll go take a look around the depots, see if they've something to spare. Nairone, could you let Kaise know where we're headed?" the pale eyed girl asked. Her friend nodded and began to type out a message on a data slate, which she showed to the girl on her right who actually had been looking the right way but hadn't said anything. She took a moment to read it, then spoke in a scratchy voice that made the hairs on the back of Nanta's neck stand on end and put her in mind of someone who hadn't spoke in a long time.

"Ah, ok! We'll do what we can! Sorry about this by the way, I can't actually hear any of you!" she said at a rather loud volume that gave no-one any doubt about that.

"We tech priests will speak to our fellows. Our machines are superior to those of the ordinary guard, we should have no trouble in procuring a powerful asset for our forces." the smallest of the Tech priests added. One of the other red robed priests responded too, but it was a screech of bhinaric zeros and ones and while the other two nodded approvingly, the rest of the room was left none the wiser as to what was said.

"We'll scout out the residential areas. I doubt we'll find anything but you've already covered everywhere else. C'mon Crunch, we might need you if we find something." one of the diminutive ratlings told the massive Bullgryn, who nodded slowly.

"Well, I think that's all. We'll see you all back here in two days. Good luck all!" Nanta addressed the others, and the remaining four groups headed out into the Hive.

...

Agarn was a planet settled relatively recently in imperial history, mostly by Vostroyans since it was the nearest major imperial planet. Hive Kairon-Secundus would by initial appearance not seem any different to any other hive you could care to mention-but there were several key changes. It was built with much wider roads, intended to allow even the largest vehicles through if it came under attack, a vital feature since it had become the main vehicle manufacturer in it's sub sector. Furthermore the Hive was much more open to the sky and light, more reliant on fresh air since a considerable effort had been taken to keep air pollution down, to the point where Agarn's skies weren't much worse that an well built up Agri-worlds. It still suffered from many of the issues of hive cities, constant gang warfare on the lower levels and the occasional food riot due to poor space allocation for ration storage, but overall it was considered to be a relatively comfortable place to live.

...

The six Cadians left the Academy on the edge of the purpose built false cityscape section of the hive that was regularly used for training, and headed for the wrecking yards.

"My name's Nanta. It's nice to be with some fellow Cadians for once." she told the others.

"I'm Tori, and ah, I don't think any of us are actually Cadians technically are we?" the black haired, shortest member of their party responded.

"Well, Cadia's technically been gone for millenia now. But anyone descended from a real Cadian, like myself, gets the name as far as I care." the tallest member of their group, a girl named Kelly told them pridefully as they rounded a corner and bringing the cranes of the scrapyard into view.

"Well, I mean the training's the important b-bit right? Doing all the right d-drills and exercise right?" Mell, the shortest member responded nervously.  
"Well, we havn't done or got either so I hope we're ok!" Ann, one of the two identical twins responded before her double Sally followed up with "We kinda didn't know dad. Neither did Mam for that matter, she thinks he was Cadian but ah..."

"Ah, it's fine right? I mean, we're all connected in some way to Cadia, we're all basically family right?" Nanta responded as they entered the gates of the yard. "Right, so, I think we should split into pairs for the moment, take a look around the yard. We're looking for any purpose built military vehicle, or vehicle class weaponry. Good luck!" Nanta told them, and the six split up, Nanta going with Tori, Kelly with Mell and the twins with each other.

Nanta and Tori spent most of the afternoon scavenging through the piles. The two had been friends even since before joining the guard, and their conversation was cheerful as they searched.

"Well, I suppose I see where you're coming from. Still, what do you think of this tournament? You've always wanted to be a tanker right?" Tori asked, attempting to free something tube shaped from a tangle of rusted wire netting.

"Yeah, though I didn't expect to get thrown into something that big so quickly. I hope we're up to it." Nanta answered, a note of concern in her voice. "Here, I'll get that." she added, and brought the bolt cutters she'd been holding to bear on the net. Upon getting through, the two dragged the tube object free, something that took considerable force.

"Looks like a Lascannon! Talk about a good start, this'd be perfect for tank hunting!"

"Lascannon?"  
"Like the Lasgun rifles you know? Only way bigger. It's a powerful laser that can melt through even fairly heavy armour. I think the capacitor unit might be in there somewhere, give me a hand and we'll dig it out!"

...

Meanwhile, across the yard, things were going less well for Mell and Kelly.

"Look, anyone can do the training, that's not the point! We don't say that anyone fighting in a desert is a resident of Tallarn!"

"But if y-you're not doing the training then you're not following the t-traditions of your supposed home! You're only f-from there in name!"

The two had been arguing in a similar manner for a while, but this appeared to be the final straw. The two turned away in a huff, and begun to walk in opposite directions. However, barely fifteen seconds later, Kelly had spotted something. She'd been looking up towards the heap, and up near the top she'd recognised something. One of the various exposed bits of scrap had the markings of the Armageddon Steel Legion, one of the many symbols she had come across during her home studies of the guard's history. Knowing the legion's heavy usage of transports, this seemed to be a good sign.

"Well well, look at that! I've found something already! Guess that answers who the better Cadian is!" she proclaimed, just loudly enough that she was sure Mell would hear her. Mell stopped, fists clenching but she wasn't turning around and said nothing.

Very pleased with how things had been turning out so far, she turned and was about to climb, her hands on the pile when it suddenly shuddered. For a moment, she froze. Then, deciding she'd imagined it, she begun to climb. She'd barely gotten two metres up when several things happened at once. There was an almighty crashing above and as she looked up, she saw something large suddenly jolt outwards from the pile of scrap. Then, with a grinding, screeching sound and a rattle of smaller pieces of falling scrap it began to fall toward her. Then, she gave a yell of fear as she realised what was about to happen. Whatever it was, it was beginning to slide down the heap towards her and there was no time to get out of the way. A voice sounded somewhere nearby.

"Jump, quickly!" it called, panic clearly audible in it. For a moment, fear froze her in place, but she managed to snap out of it and kicked off backwards as the scrap began to crash downwards in earnest. As she fell, something struck her hard in the side and she was sent hurtling sideways, hitting the ground with a painful thud and rolling aside as, with a ground shaking crash, the pile of scrap came down where she had been mere moments before.

...

"By the emperor that hurts... Thank you, I owe you my life." Kelly said gratefully in the direction of her rescuer between gasps of air.

"It's... f-fine, y-you didn't see the t-thing moving..." Mell responded, lying on her back beside her.

"Yeah... what was that?" But, she didn't have to wait long for an answer. Pulling herself to her feet, she took a look over toward the pile of scrap. A massive stretched hexagonal box of metal was visible amongst other smaller pieces of scrap. On one side, a track wrapped around the edge while the other trailed broken on the ground and a small turret was visible on top. Bent lasguns stuck out from the sides.

"Isn't that a chimera?" Mell responded, now also standing having taken the hand Kelly offered to help her off the muddied ground.

"Sorry about that! We didn't know you were down there!" a voice called from the top of the heap. Commissar Blue, and her group of Catachan were standing atop the pile.

"W-well you s-should have looked where you were pushing that thing!" Mell called back, trying to sound angry.

"My apologies, Mell wasn't it?" Blue called. "Still, I think I may just have found something to make up for my group's blunder. Come up here and take a look."

The two clambered up the pile nervously, keep an eye on the pile and flinching a little when the pile settled a few inches. Once near the top, the muscled arms of the Catachans lifted/dragged them the last few feet. Looking down, they could clearly see what Blue had meant. They were standing on the hull of another vehicle, looking down via the hull the turret had once occupied.

"Is this what I think it is?" Kelly asked, climbing down into the hull.

"Y-yeah, it looks like a L-Leman Russ... b-but where's the turret?" said Mell as she followed suit. The inside of the tank was dusty but it looked to be in good condition.

"The Cadian 396th... This was actually made there huh? I wonder what brought it out here all this way?" Kelly mused, gently running her hand over the metal plate that had its old squadron markings engraved into it. "Still, even without a main gun, it feels strong, eh?"

"Y-yeah... It does." Mell responded truthfully. She was thinking the same thing. Something about the old machine seemed to emanate power. "D-Do you think it still r-runs?"

"Not without any fuel it won't. Gauge is empty. We'll have to ask the servitors to get it out, there's no way we can shift all this debris."

And, for the rest of the day this was exactly what they did. By the end of the day, they had what appeared to be the hull of a Leman Russ battle tank. More than twice as high as any of them, the tank was massive and towered even above the hull of the already large Chimera, which the Catachan had spent the evening cleaning and dragging scrap out of.

"Good work. I think it's safe to say that we'd be best off leaving that Russ to your group. Ours is too large for even a full Russ crew but we'd fit fine in the Chimera. Ah, and here come your team-mates now!" Commisar blue told them. Nanta and Tori were dragging the Lascannon towards them while waving to the group. At the same time, from the opposite direction a large Servitor crane had come rumbling around the corner, guided by the twins. In its claw, a massive turret unit could be seen, swinging slightly as it ground toward them.

"Hey, look what we found! You asked for weapons and we delivered!" Sally called to the group. But Nanta wasn't listening, her attention on the tank now in front of her.

"Wow! You found this? This is incredible, it's a real Leman Russ! And it even looks-"

"Cadian, yeah! Me and Mell already checked it out. It's a little beat up, but I think it'll still run. Front gun's missing, but the bolter sponsons look fine, you've brought that lascannon and we've even got a turret too!"

Unfortunately, as she said this, the aforementioned turret fell to the ground with a crash as the crane went over a huge dip in the ground obscured by a puddle of rusty water, and promptly tipped over. Blue winced at the sound. "It appears you should have been paying more attention to that servitor."

"My apologies ma'am!" Anne responded, suddenly fearful of what the commissar was going to do.

"Apology accepted. There'll be no punishment this time since it'll still be down to your group to make repairs. We'll take our leave, we have our vehicle and I believe it is in working order now the track has been fixed. I trust the others are having as much luck as we are..."

...

Earlier that day, the three Savlar had also been searching, but had chosen to instead head down the nearest drainpipe. They knew the tunnels in this area well, and quickly made their way down to what was locally known as the 'Liberated Market'. The joke, as they'd tell you, was that basically everything in it had already been 'Liberated' from someone else, likely several times. Unwary visitors had been known to buy something, get robbed, and get sold the same thing again even before leaving the first street. However, the three swaggered down said street as if it was their own, waving cheerfully to the stand owners, many of which they knew personally.

"Oi, Chimney!"

Chimney was a short but solidly built girl with skin permanently stained black by soot.

"Eyy, Daisy, it's been a while! 'Eard your in the guard now! Howzit working out for you? Stayin' clear of commissars?"

"Fraid not, one came with a bunch of Catachan. Name o' Blue. You know anythin' about her?"

"Blue? Naww, never heard of her. She one of the strict type?"

"Dunno yet, doesn't seem it mostly."

"Well, take care anyway. Now, whaddya here for? I know ya's ain' just here to chat."

"We've been lumped with tankin' duty. Sommin about a tournament. They's told us we got's to find our own ride though. Ya know where we can find anythin' military?"

"Tanks? Hah, yous three in a sealed box with the rubbish you all put in your inhalers? Good luck with that hot mess! Yeah, I think I knows a machine. But you know me, info's my trade an' it don't come free. You know my price. Or actually..."

"Actually dun' sound good. What hair brained trade are you coming up with now?"

"Look, I... I've been getting lonely down here lately, ya know? You's three don't visit much now ya busy and I dun' mind but it'd be nice to have a little permanent company, ya get me? It gets real cold down here in the winter too. So here's da deal. If ya's can promise ta get me a date with the best lookin' girl in ya little squad, I'll get yous ya tank. Deal?" she said, spitting on her palm and extending her arm. "Oh, an' I'll be leavin' it ta yous Tulip ta' pick the best looker. I knows you ain' got much taste Daisy, or yous Buttercup!"

The short haired Savlar spat on her oil stained glove and shook.

"Heh, you drive a hard bargain, but don't you worry, I'll get ya your date. But ah, looks is the only thing to judge on?"

"Yeah, ya heard me! Why?"

"Ah, nuthin, if tha's what ya want I'll find her, don' ya worry, heck I already know exactly who as well. Right, so where's this tank at?"

"Remember Marka?"

"That grumpy o'l cook 'oo used ta sell dodgy re-constituted meat buns ta' lost upper hivers?"

"Gottit in one! Well, he's got 'imself a new cooker, but it ain' no oven. It's sommin' with a flamer, ya can tell by tha' stink of prometheum. Could be attached to some kinda tank eh? That's about all I knows for now but it's tha' best I got. I'll keep an eye out for more, if that date goes well I'll give it to ya for a discount eh? Anyways, whatever he's got, I reckon ya's would be able ta make it quietly disappear eh?"

"What're ya talkin about Chimney? We don't do quiet!"

...

The three headed further downwards, towards the large service tunnel Marka had once served the three in. After adding a little more liquid to the pools of sewage and industrial waste, they'd decided unanimously to not go back for seconds. Two turns before they reached their destination, Buttercup stopped.

"Wha's up?"

"Neck hair's a-tinglin. Sommin's up. 'Ow come we've seen so few people round here? Ain' this bit usually busy?"

"Good point. Tell ya what, take the o'll service duct. Me 'an Daisy'll go the normal way. If anythin' goes wrong, you'll 'ave our back when we get there."

"What happened 'ta we don' do quiet?"

"We don't, but we don't do stupid either eh? We'll keep loud, keep 'em busy. Good luck eh?"

Daisy and Tulip rounded the corner, leaning on each-other's shoulders, swinging the empty bottles they'd found in a trash heap and singing a rather dirty song about a Guardsman and a Sister of battle named Agatha.

"Well well, if it ain' you two flower-brained numskulls? I though you two had joined the Guard? And weren't there three of ya?"

"Eyy? What'cha talkin about Marka? We din' join the Guard, we's would 'ave to be a lot more drun-drunker ta do sommin that stupid!" Daisy replied in a drunken slur. "Now, Buttercup-hic-she's dun that. We's been drinkin' to her succ-succez... good health.-Hic-"

"Oh really? Well, I've had a bit of a job change too. C'mon out lads!"

At his word, a group of men and women appeared from various well concealed areas around the room. All were large, some wearing makeshift armour but all were armed with various weapons.

"See, I've decided that I oughta be in charge of this bit of the under hive. We call ourselves the Rat Lords now."

"Ah, congrats! G-good for you -Hic-"

"Ah, thanks. Ya intrested in joining?"

"What? Ya kiddin? Yous'll be kicked out by the Diamond-backs within the week! Good luck an' all but this is da wrong spot to try an' start a new gang, unless ya gonna be real sneaky about it."

"Well, I did offer. Sorry about this." he said, pulling a plasma pistol from a concealed holster on the back of his leg as the others drew a variety of mostly melee weapons. The revving of a chainsword, and the humming of the plasma pistol were all that could be heard for a few moments.

...

"Oi oi, whatcha playin' at Marka?" Daisy asked, the drunken pretence dropping from her voice.

"If you aren't going to join, then what do you think? We're robbing you. Back up until you reach the wall, then I want you two to drop everything you're carrying, clothing included. I heard about that trick you pulled against Torren with the hidden cudgel last cycle, I'm not letting that happen to me."

He motioned for them to move with his gun and the two backed up slowly. A few moments later they both felt themselves colliding with something solid.

"Right, now start ditching your stuff. No sudden movements eh?"

"But Marka-" Tulip interjected "-The slanesh cults iz' all over the place these days, if they find's us minus skivies we'll-"

"That isn't my problem. Get going, now!" he said, holding the pistol under her chin. Her skin burned simply from the power coming off the heatsync, and she called out "OK, ok! Oi'm doing it!" as she dropped her pack. Without warning, a rumble sounded behind them.

"Hey, what are you doing?!"

"We ain' doin that Marka!"

"You think I believe you? Tell me, what are you doing?!" he said, moving the pistol over to point at Daisy.

"Oi oi, I to'l you it ain' us!"

"Hey, you two! Gey your 'eads down eh?" came a sudden shout from behind them. Marka looked upwards, pistol temporarily rising upwards in the vauge direction of the sound. The girls had not, however, looked up. Years of fighting had taught them that no-matter which side yelled to get down, it usually wasn't a bad bet for either side and the two had ducked to the floor. This turned out to be a good plan. For a moment, Marka stood there, looking confusedly into the face of Buttercup sitting in the turret of what had been, until recently, part of his sales stand. Then, the turret gave an orange flash and a jet of burning Prometheum blazed out into the tunnel. Marka, caught full in the chest barely had time to scream before he was reduced to little more than burning ash. His crew yelled and screamed, running for tunnels to get away or rolling on the ground, dying or doing their best to put the fires out with mixed results. Some of the chemicals puddles turned out to be, if anything, more flammable.

"Loud enough for yas?" she called.

"Well well, looks like we owe's ya drink eh? Nice timin'! What's ya found there then?"

"Dunno, but it's got tracks, it's got a great big flamer and it seems 'ta be our best bet of getting out of 'ere eh? All aboard!"

...

While the Salvar had been searching for what they would later discover was a Hellhound flamethrower tank, the Techpriests had been walking alongside the Vallhallans since both their destinations were relatively nearby.

"I see. One blinded, one deaf and one mute. A shame you did not make it into our order, I am sure we could replace your defective organs."

"You could do that?" Baal, the white eyed Vostroyan asked as the silent Nairone guided her along their path to the vehicle depots, while also transcribing the techpriest's words for their deaf member Kaise.

"I have no doubt. I have already augmented my vision, my legs and voice box myself, as you can see." the lead tech priest Starsaky responded. Then, a moment later she added "Ah, my apologies."

"It's fine." Ball said, waving nonchalantly, but there was a faint air of sadness to her voice. The second tech priest let out another stream of bhinaric noise. The third who they'd learned was called Catch responded "Yes, I suppose we could."

"What sort of tank are you gonna go looking for?" Kaise asked as she read through Nairone's transcriptions.

"Tech priests do not have to search for vehicles like common guardsmen. We need only request to requestion whatever we need. Maybe an Onager Dunecrawler, or perhaps with a little luck, maybe we could obtain the services of a mighty Imperial Knight! Rest assured, we will obtain what will become our most powerful asset, you can be sure of this!" Starsaky told them, her voice swelling with pride even through her vox hailer of a mouth.

...

The two groups separated shortly after, and the trio of Valhallans made their way through the repair depot. Hundreds of machines of every shape and size were parked, or suspended from cranes. Most had bits of armour or plating removed, slews of cable and mechanisms exposed within. Servitors toiled away, bending cracked armour back into shape, welding holes or soldering wires. Servo skulls flew around the room, giving reports to their human overseers. One man turned as they approached, placing the angle grinder he'd been using on the workbench.

"Oh, it's you three!"

"Hello there Aranov!" Baal responded alongside a cheerful wave that was pointed in what could charitably be called the right direction.

"So, I'll get right to it since we're rather busy at the moment. I assume you're here on Guard business since you've clearly made it through recruiting. What can I do for you?"

The three quickly explained about their upcoming tournament.

"Ahh, I see. You need a vehicle quickly eh?"

"Yes, please. Do you have any idea where we could find anything?"

"Actually, yes. As you know, your father saved my wife in the same explosion that deafened you Kaise. I'd have liked to repay him in person but..." His voice trailed off. Kaise read the vox screen, then paused for a moment.

"I'm sorry, I-"

"It's fine." She responded, her voice even shakier than it usually was. For a moment, the two were silent, then Aranov cleared his throat awkwardly and continued.

"So, yes, Well. You three may not know this but we hold a competition here every year. Each work-group gets given a standard template, and we have to build it to the highest standard possible. The winners get an extra hours sleep during the rest of the cycle so naturally the competition is fierce. We've just won it ourself actually!" he said proudly. "However, our entry will probably get sent off with all the rest of the war machines to some general somewhere who's already got the pick of anything he needs for any given battle. There might, I think, be a better use for it." he finished, sliding open the door to a smaller garage off the side of the main manufactorum floor.

Kaise gave a low whistle, and quietly murmured "Wow, beautiful!" as Nairone's eyes widened.

"Um, what is it?"

"That, is the Basilisk we call Ruin. Master crafted from the finest materials and with the most advanced equipment we could find. Her Earth-shaker is thanks to this, about sixty percent more accurate than that on a standard Basilisk. We've fitted it with all the top additions too, a launcher for a hunter killer missile, an Auspex scanner for a further improvement to its accuracy and target location, a searchlight, track guards and even a bulldozer blade, just in case! Oh, and one master crafted heavy bolter as well."

The self propelled gun's chassis was in essence, the same as that of the chimera, but the overall size of the vehicle was much larger due to the enormous breach loading Earth-shaker cannon mounted on top. A curved metal shield, topped with the symbol of the imperial Aquila sat in front of the cannon to protect its exposed rear. Any metal that could be seen behind the white and grey camouflage was polished to a mirror shine. Baal was gently running her hand across its surface, feeling the smoothness of the paint and the cold of the metal.

"I think she'd be perfect for you three. She doesn't need a large crew, and should be able to help you contribute without getting you all too close to the main battle."

"Thank you, Aranov. Are you really sure we can just have this?"

"I'd be living alone if not for your father Kaise. Take it with my blessing. I'll report it as handed over to the servitors for transit. As far as anyone'll be concerned, it'll be their fault it went missing."

...

"Well, bother." Starsaky said to no-one in particular. "Can you believe them? We're tech priests just like them, we deserve better than this!"

"01010001111010101100101..."

"You said it. Even its machine spirit feels weak." Catch responded with a groan. They'd been granted a vehicle alright, but it was far from a splendid war machine. The Trojan sat in front of them, a vehicle similar in some ways to a Chimera but without a turret. The suspension was sagging and clearly broken somewhere. The recovery crane on the back was missing the cable it would need to function, and the paint was heavily scratched and worn, or in one place on the left side stained brown with a worrying large patch of dry blood. The entirety of its weaponry consisted of a single heavy stubber protruding from the small, square box that stuck up on one side.

"01101000101001011101010101010101010...1"

"Oh? A test from the Omnissiah? Yes, yes you may be right! It makes sense that he would test us as so!"

"What do you mean Catch?"

"The Omnissiah would not simply trust us, unproven as we are with one of his more valuable sons. Instead, he has sent us an injured child for us to prove our worth with! Should we prove capable of caring for, and succeeding with even this smallest of warriors, I am sure he will see that we are given a greater duty!"

"I see. Perhaps you are correct! Very well. We shall return it to the meeting point, and begin our repairs immediately. Praise be to the Omnissiah for giving us such an oppertunity!"

...

The ratling known as Midge had spent most of the day perched on Crunch's massive shoulder, scanning the surroundings. She could see her fellows occasionally flitting through the crowd of workers. "Midge to Bluebottle. Anything?"

"Nothing. The occasional servitor vehicle, or civilian car but that's about it."

"Bea here. It's the same over here by the waste disposal plant. A few of these machines look a lot more sturdy than the cars but there's no war machines.

"Kelsie here, no luck. Cathrine?"

"Nothing."

"Jessica here, I think I found something over by the river! Well, in it I should say. We'll probably need Jade and Crunch."

The eight had soon re-united over at the riverbank. Their diminutive engineseer Jade was staring into the river.

"Well, good news. It's a Taurox, so there's room for all of us. Bad news..."

"Yeah, river, I know. How on earth do we get it out?"

"Maybe we could set up some kind of winch?"

"Perhaps we could float it up?"

"Nahh, let's go rope in some of the locals, get them to gang up and shift it"

"That'll never work, we need a recovery vehicle, we should go get the others-"

"Got-it..." came the loud, slow voice of Cruch. She was standing beside the Taurox, dragging it onto the riverside. Water was gushing out out onto the riverside as mud sloughed off its rear but the front still showed its original olive green colouration, rusted as it was. It sat upon four small caterpillar tracks, with a pair of Auto cannons fixed to the side of the hull by the entry hatches. While taller than a Chimera, it was thinner and shorter overall.

"Oh. Wow. Did you know she could do that?"  
"Ah, no. Umm, good work Crunch! I guess we'd better be getting back!"

"Well, that's that I guess. Wonder if the others had it that easy?"


	3. Tankers In Training

Girls Und Warhammer 40kChaper 3: "Tankers in training"

"Hmm. So these are the machines? I must admit, you have done well to gather them so quickly. However, to say they are-with one exception-in shoddy condition-would be an understatement. Our servitors will work through the night to get these to a reasonable working condition. We shall start lessons tomorrow, assuming that none of these machines require more intensive repair. We will also be fitting all vehicles with the new miniaturised quantum phase shields that the Mechanicus have reverse-engineered and improved from the Necrons. While your vehicles may still be damaged, it it very unlikely that any of you will be killed during the match. Assuming they work as expected, anything that pieces your hulls will phase through you, the crew, only damaging the machines themselves. However these are prototypes so I still advise you to take due care, even during training. Rest up while you can. Oh, and one other thing."

"Yes Ma'am?" Nanta asked curiously.

"None of you manage to find any of the machines we actually left out for you all to find. However, you all managed to acquire vehicles, some of which are, I must admit, rather impressive" At this, she nodded towards the Valhallans. "You all have my attention, and I will be keeping an eye on you all. That is all." she finished, before collecting the pack she had left and heading out the room.

...

Next morning...

"Ahh, look at that!" Nanta exclaimed to her fellow Cadians, a huge smile on her face. A virtual wall of armour sat lined up in front of them. "So, we've got a Leman Russ with a battle cannon, two bolters and a Lascannon." The tank in question was sitting there with its turret now fixed and properly mounted. The mangled front had been battered back into shape and the lascannon from the heap fitted. "Next, a Chimera with front bolter, Lasgun array and multi-laser turret." The Chimera's tracks had been fixed and its lasgun arrays replaced. Unlike the others, the Catachan girls had been personally ordered by their commissar to give it a fresh coat of jungle-green paint, and it looked as if it had been made the day before. "A seriously top of the line Basilisk with everything!" The Basilisk still shone like new, and it stood out greatly thanks to the white and grey winter camouflage as opposed to the greens of the other machines. "A Taurox with assault cannons, so we have two fast transports." The Taurox was more like a large armoured car than a tank, sitting high on four small caterpillar tracks instead of wheels. Unlike the others though it still showed some signs of its dip in the river. The track mount at the front left had rusted badly though the tracks had been entirely replace by fresh ones. The rear was also still stained brown despite the hosing down it had received. "A Hellhound, so that gives us a bit of short range support, though I suppose it's a weird one for fighting tanks." The Hellhound actually turned out to not need any real repairs, so had simply had its flamer fuel tank refilled and some basic maintenance done. "Oh, and even a Trojan to repair the others mid battle! I see what you meant about finding a valuable asset, good find!" Nanta finished her listing. The three tech priests made affirmative noises at this, despite the fact that they certainly hadn't been deliberately looking for said Trojan. They'd overseen and made most of the repairs personally. The track and suspension were now fixed and a replacement tow cable found. The bloodstain, however, was still there and the Ratlings were eyeing it with considerable concern.

"Hmm. We're a bit short of firepower aren't we?" Kelly muttered. "I mean, we have quite a few vehicles, but realistically, only the Russ and the Basilisk have much chance of injuring a target at range. I mean, the Inferno cannon and flamer on the Hellhound could certainly kill a tank but it'd have to get to it first, and considering the Tau are experts at repelling attempts to reach melee range... The assualt cannons on the Taurox could do some damage, maybe knock out sensors and the like but it's not going to penetrate heavy armour at any real range... and forget about the stubber on the Trojan or the lasgun array on the Chimera, no way they're gonna kill a tank..."

"W-wow, um, you know a l-lot about weapons huh?" Mell responded. "Still, I d-don't think we have time to find anything bigger if we've s-still got to train to use them too, not before the t-tournament anyway."

...

"ALRIGHT YOU MISERABLE GROTS, GET YOUR SORRY BEHINDS IN LINE **THIS SECOND!** " an incredibly loud voice called. They hadn't seen the newcomer enter the room, now standing by the line of tanks accompanied by Commisar Blue and their Sargent. The new woman was wearing a fairly tight, bright blue dress uniform and matching cap, and standing rigidly to attention.

"Mordian. Best do what she says, they're not known for leniency." Kelly quietly told the others.

"So, you're the rabble I'm going to be whipping into shape eh?" the woman continued in a booming voice.

There was a general murmur of affirmation in response.

"Well, you're not exactly making much of an impression! A reject gang, a bunch of Cadian wannabes, some of the scraggliest Catachan I've ever seen, three invalids, a bunch of novice techpriests and a team of ab-humans? By the Emperor it's going to take a lot of work to get you all into any sort of shape! You will call me Tank Commander Dullahan! I will be running your training and you will follow my instructions to the letter, or I will personally disable your safety shields in the upcoming match, DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

There was a much stronger response from the crowd this time. Nobody believed she wouldn't indeed do that.

"RIGHT! So, I assume you all know which tanks you will be manning?"

"R-right, we'd decided we'd man the ones we'd found yesterday since the crew numbers match..." Nanta piped up nervously.

"You have have you? Let's have a look at these so called tanks then, see what you've found for me to work with..." Dullahan responded. For a few moments, she paced up and down the line of vehicles, inspecting various aspects and noting their loadouts.

"Which of your groups found this one?" she said, pointing to Ruin's hull.

"Umm, that would be us..." Baal answered.

"Well, I would be very interested to know how the only team that could see a decent vehicle WAS THE ONE WITH THE DAMNED BLIND GIRL ON IT! As far as I'm concerned for the next battle, you have three machines that will be of use and three that might as well not be there! And that's not to mention the state of them! Look at this Russ! Did it come out of battle yesterday?! It looks like it! This?" she yelled, hammering the front of the Tauros "I heard you dredged it out of a river and I certainly believe it! And as for that bloodstain... Your first task, except for you three (she pointed to the Vallhallans) will be to haul your arses down to the stores, get some soap and clean these vehicles up! You three, with me! I want you and your team (and here she pointed at Nanta's group) to come and meet me in my office."

"Yes ma'am!" Ba'al and Nanta responded nervously. Nairone lead the two over to her and followed her out the room. Dullahan told Nanta's team to wait outside as the others were directed in.

...

"So, you three. I've been informed of your situation, as you're no doubt aware. In your current state, obviously you aren't capable of keeping up to the same degree as your fellow teams. But I need to make it clear that I cannot go easy on you all, for your own sakes. In fact, to get you up to standard, you will be undertaking additional lessons after the other drills."  
"We won't let you down Ma'am!" Kaise responded bravely.

"Oh?" she responded, apparently not having expected that response. "Well, see to it that you do not. Right, You six out there, get in here!"

The six Cadians filtered in as the Valhallans left, and stood around in front of the desk.

"You wanted to see us Ma'am?" Nanta asked.

"Yes, I did. I'll put it simply, you're going to be in charge of the squadron Nanta."

"E-eh? Me?"

"Did I stutter? Even in the short time you've been here you already organised the search efforts for the machines and found what is, frankly, your best chance in the upcoming match. That Russ may be an eyesore but it's the most resilient and versatile vehicle on your team. It may not be up to the quality of that Basilisk that you found but if it's half the tank a brand new Russ would be, it is still a very capable machine."

"Umm, yes Ma'am."  
"In addition, I will be giving you a brief overview of the training you will be undertaking, and the plan for the upcoming battle. I'm going to be frank. You don't stand a chance against the Tau. Frankly there's not enough time to train you all to any real standard. And, even if I could, your machines aren't up to it."

"The lack of firepower, right?" Mell asked.  
"Ah, you'd noticed too it seems. Yes. As far as I'm concerned, you have three decent guns across your entire force and two are on the same vehicle. Plus, Tau vehicles have shielding and there will likely be more of them, alongside their mechanical walkers. You have very few ways to injure them, while they will, if you let them, be able to focus fire on your vehicles until they are all destroyed. However. I refuse to allow you all to embarrass the name of the Alaharn Training academy! So, you have three orders that I will be expecting to see followed to the letter. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good. Your first order is that you will not do anything to directly embarrass your school. Your vehicles will be clean and running on the day of the battle. As part of this, I also expect you to make a good effort in the fight. I want no strategic blunders. Secondly, you WILL destroy at least one vehicle of the enemy during this fight. I want it shown that even complete novices can embody the full strength of the Astra Militarum! Thirdly, and most importantly, you will, despite your clear disadvantages, fight to your fullest and attempt to secure victory. There will be no surrender. I will ensure the others know that your group is in charge. May the blessings of the Emperor be with you. You will need them."

...

"Well, you've done an acceptable job of making your tanks look the part. At least now you can't be an embarrassment right away! Now, the best way to learn, as far as I and therefore you care is to throw you in at the deepest end I can find! So, you five teams will be holding a mock battle against each-other in order to get some practise in and to get a hang of the controls."

"Five? Ain' there six of us miss?" Daisy asked, clearly confused.

"Yes, but I have other drills in mind for Basilisk team. They are not a direct combat vehicle unlike the rest of you and assuming you do your jobs, they should not come into direct battle with the enemy. The rest of you will be fighting in a free for all battle against each other. I will not be making any allowances for the differences in vehicle capability and class. Your enemies won't either. If you come up against something you can't fight directly, it will be up to you to work out another way to beat them, whether by terrain, trickery or other methods. Your starting co-ordinates are here. We'll be fighting in the mock cityscape. You have one hour to get to these locations. There'll be no rations for tonight and tomorrow if you don't get there on time. Well? Get moving!"

...

The teams, realising they'd started already made a dash for their tanks, opening hatches and clambering aboard, almost all of them banging various limbs as they did so. With the exception of the transports none of the vehicles had much in the way of room aboard.

"I've got the manuals here, who's doing what?" Nanta asked, handing out the small booklets to the crew.

"Well, you're commander of course Nanta, and I guess that'd mean you get the lascannon too. I'm tallest, so it's easiest if I'm the main loader since I can pass shells with the least effort. And Mell knows guns so she should go on the turret right?" Kelly responded, taking the book and moving into the spot behind the turret.

"R-right but what about t-the sponsons?"

"We'll get those!" Anne answered. Her and her sister had already sat themselves behind the large mechanism that loaded the sponson guns.

"Ah, guess I'm driving then! It's not the same as a car but it can't be too different can it?" Tori said, taking the seat at the front of the machine. The sound of an engine starting sounded from somewhere outside.

"Looks like the Hellhound's moving already. Guess they already know how to drive, so we'll want to look out for them. They'll likely be much faster than the rest of us. Now that I think about it, we'll probably be the slowest machine out there, so we'll have to be carefull." Nanta told the others from her viewing cupola, a small raised section under the turret hatch with windows that gave a better view of the outside world.

"Right, starting the engine now. Here we go!" Tori said, holding in the ignition trigger. With an almost unbearably loud clatter that echoed painfully around the inside of the tank its engine blazed into life, shaking hard in its mount. Even once settled it was still very loud inside, and Nanta had to yell to get the others to hear her.

"Right, turn ninety degrees left then straight ahead!"

The tank begun to move for a moment, then with a loud grinding of its gearbox almost stalling, it began to slowly turn left. A voice suddenly sounded around inside the helmets of everyone aboard, and the entire crew jumped in synch.

"Calling all teams, repeat all teams. I have activated your internal vox-hailers. You should find it much easier to co-ordinate now. All teams with kinetic weapons, you have had your shells replaced with paint rounds, and all energy weapons have been set to scorch. No point damaging our machinery at this point. I will judge the state of your tanks by the positioning and quantity of scorch marks and paint, and once I say you're out, you're out. Fifty minuites to start."

The Trojan sped past the Russ, and a little after that the Taurox practically flew past, swerving wildly and barely making the turn at the fork up ahead, almost tipping into one of the ditches.

"Son of-Who the heck's driving that?" Tori exclaimed, their Russ skewing to one side as she took the corner much more gracefully.

...

"AHHHHHHHHH!" the collective crew of the Taurox screamed.

"Don't worry, I've got this!" its driver, Bluebottle re-assured them. She was, admittedly a good driver but the seat for the Taurox wasn't adjustable, and with her small frame she was having trouble seeing the road and reaching the pedals at the same time. It didn't help that the Taurox seemed to be pulling slightly to the left for no reason she could work out. Nevertheless they were determined to be on time-and in fact, they made it to their starting point a long way ahead of the other teams. Crunch's massive frame came stumbling out, and she collapsed onto the ground with a heavy thump.

"Too... fast..."

"Yeah, I'm... blugh... I'm with you big girl... why'd we have to get the fast one?..." Midge, the teams commander responded.

"Can we trade vehicles for something slower?" asked Bea, who was sat cross legged and pale faced, leaning back on the Taurox's rear track. "Maybe a horse? Or a big cow? I'd take it."

"I must admit, its machine spirit is disgruntled. It does not like this crew." came the mechanical voice of their techpriest Jade.

"Well, we'll just have to do what we can for now. I'm wondering what we're going to do in this match. We're pretty lightly armed, if we run into the Cadians we'll be knocked out right away." mused Kelsie, the largest of the ratling crew by a whole 6 inches (it was rumoured one of her grandparents might have been human).

"Dullahan said we could win by other means though right?" the crews smallest Ratling Cathrine answered thoughtfully.

"Yeah, they said trickery was fine... I've got it! We'll team up with the others! That Russ is the strongest right? So, if we team up with all the others to take it on, but let them go first and them make sure we're in place to knock out the Chimera once the Russ is down..."

...

"Aye, I hear you... I see... One moment." Kant, the Catachan's commander replaced the Chimera's vox hailer. "We've been offered a chance to team up with the Ratlings to take on the Cadians. They say we'll have trouble fighting them alone, and that they want to help. Ma'am?"

"I'll leave this to you Kant. While we're in this Chimera, you are in command. So long as you do not attempt to abandon your post, I will leave all decisions to you." Commissar Blue responded calmly from her seat in the multi-laser turret. "Oh, this wasn't from any of you was it?" she asked. She'd found a note in her pack that hadn't been there earlier. There was a general murmur of denial from the crew. "Well, I'll look into this myself after this match."

"Kant, are we going to go along with their plan?" Susan asked from the drivers seat.

"I... I don't..." Kant started to respond, before pausing. She was a Catachan, Catachan are not supposed to second guess themselves, she found herself thinking. "We'll do it! Catachan team here, we're going to help!"

...

"Your plan is logical. The Adeptus mechanicus will assist you by laying traps. If you can force the Cadian team to move into them, we can disable it. Do you have the support of all other teams?"

"Not yet, we've yet to get through to the Salvar, they're not responding..."

...

"Oi oi, can't ya shut up that vox? We ain't got time to be waistin' talking!" Daisy called to the others as the Hellhound flew along the road, sparks flying as tarmac and adamantine tracks met at high speed. The crew would normally have had their chem inhalers on, but Daisy had, in her own words, made something special up and let it loose in the inside of the tank.

"Aye aye Daisy!" called Buttercup from her drivers seat, slapping the off button on the Vox and whooping as they flew over yet another bump in the road. Tulip responded in kind, sending a brief jet of fluorescent pink paint bursting from the turret and splattering a row of hedges on the way past. Whatever had been in Daisy's mix had the three in very high spirits as they sped on to the starting point.

...

"The round has started everyone! May the best tankers win!" the voice of their Sargent called over the hailer in every one of the tanks.

"Good luck all! Let's win this!" Nanta called to the others.  
"What's our plan commander?" Tori asked her. They'd chosen to shut off the Russ's engine so they could temporarily remain hidden.

"We'll want to find the enemy and engage them, one at a time if we can. We're slow so we'll have to be careful not to let anyone get behind us since our armour there is weak. Keep an eye out everyone!"

The Russ began to roll, following the road to the fake town's centre. Huge, sombre grey buildings flanked either side of the road, some ruined by previous battles but most intact. Visibility was already low for the Russ's crew, and a sense of unease began to set in within the next ten minutes. They'd seen no sign of the other teams.

...

"Nanta, where are they?" Anne asked, her head glued to the sponson viewfinder as she looked about for a target.

"I don't know... I'd have thought we'd have at least heard something by now-" but her thought was cut off. With a loud wrenching of steel, one of the massive pipes that fed the various foundries a little way ahead was suddenly pulled sideways, and a huge gout of white smoke suddenly billowed out, blocking the entirety of the street ahead.

"Full stop! It's an ambush!" Nanta called. She was right. The ratling's taurox came charging out of the smoke, autocannons rattling away and sending a spray of yellow paint up the front of the russ. At the same time, their tank suddenly jolted painfully forward as something hit them from behind!

"Agh! What?"

"It's the Catachan!" Nanta called from her view in the turret. Their Chimera had rammed them and was going all out with its multi-laser, hit after hit landing on the back of the turret as its tracks sparked off the rockcrete road. "Turn the gun, we've got to get them off!"

As their turret ground round, there was another sound of engines. The trojan came roaring out from around the corner up ahead, trailing the broken section of pipe still attatched to it's crane. As it pulled up alongside the Taurox it too opened up with its stubber, adding splatters of red to the yellow. Dullahan's voice sounded over the tanks vox.

"Russ Team, still active but you would have lost your lascannon, careless! You will not use it for the rest of this match! Chimera team, Taurox team, Trojan team, you won't kill a Russ like that, you'll have to try harder!"

Their turret had, however, turned to the point where they could actually hit the Chimera.

"Fire!" Nanta called. A moment later, the crew were deafened for a moment. The battle cannon may not have had a normal shell loaded but the propellant was identical and the interior rang with the blast of the gun's firing. A large green splatter of paint flew up from the front of the chimera.

"Wh-whoa..." Mell said in an awed voice, her hands shaking on the turret controls.

"Chimera team, you're out! You made an attempt but you had no follow up to your initial attack! If you'd aimed well you could have disabled that Russ' engine from there! You'll be working overtime on your close combat tactics and gunnery for the rest of training!" Dullahan's voice sounded.

...

"Tori, take us forward! Anne, Sally, covering fire! Kelly, we need another shell!"

"Ok!" the three chimed in unison. The heavy bolters rang out, splattering more green paint across the front of the two tanks ahead as the tank began to accelerate towards the smoke cloud. However, a moment before they could fire their battle cannon, there came a clank.

"I'm stuck!" came Kelly's voice. Her uniform had gotten caught on part of the turret and snagged, and she'd dropped the shell she was meant to load which had rolled down next to the drivers seat. There was a brief scramble as Mell attempted to un-tangle Kelly, and Tori trying to fold herself into the far corner, starting terrified at the loose shell now next to her seat. Sally, practically clambering over Nanta grabbed the shell, passing it up to the now untangled Kelly who quickly threw it into the breach. However, Tori had been unable to stop the Russ as this had happened and they'd moved into the space where the smoke had been. While the gas itself had gone, it had frozen the road and buildings where it passed and the tank was sent spinning as it hit the ice. With a bone jarring crunch, they hit and mounted a row of cars, lifting one side of the Russ but stopping it as cars and tank both hit the wall of the building behind them.

"Agh... sheesh, that hurt... everyone ok?" Tori called out amongst the groans of the other crewmen, to four replys that were little more than affirmative groans. Nanta however, had a little more to say.

"I'm fine, but at this angle our engine's exposed, if they fire on it we'll be..." she said, realising it was already too late. Both the Trojan and the Taurox had turned-but before they could fire, a spray of pink paint splashed against the side of the Trojan, and the Hellhound came hammering out from the same hole in the pipe the Trojan had! It had braked, but it hit the ice and with no chance of stopping on its own it crashed hard into the side of the Taurox sending both spinning!

"Trojan team, you're out, and in a real battle you're burning to death too! What were you doing sticking around on the front-line, you're a support vehicle! You'll have to work on your positioning!" Dullahan's voice sounded yet again. "Oh, and by the way. ARTILLERY INCOMING!" she suddenly called.

"Tori, full reverse! Quick!" Nanta called.

"Got it!" she responded, the Russ thumping back to ground level as it rolled off the cars. For a moment, they could see the Hellhound beginning to move backwards down the street, and the Taurox's tracks spinning wildly but barely moving on the ice. Then, with little warning, a streak of brass was visible for a split second before a bang sounded and a spray of black paint was thrown up into the air right next to the Taurox.

"Taurox team, you're out! Extra driving and manoeuvring lessons for you, even on ice you should've been out of there even faster than the Hellhound! Basilisk team, good shot! And there was me thinking your earlier efforts were flukes! Back to your normal drills, keep up the good work!"

"Tori, heads up! Forward, quick! Mell, Sally, Anne get that Hellhound quick!" Nanta called, only barely registering Dullahan's words. Their heavy bolters spat out at the Hellhound but it drove through, apparently ignoring them and headed straight at them as the guns on both turrets turned.

For a moment, time seemed to slow. Then, as both turrets reached their targets, a spray of pink spurted from the Hellhound-but with no warning, it suddenly skewed sideways! It had hit the ice patch at an odd angle and losing grip on one side, the tank was sent sliding! There was another thump from the Russ's gun, and as pink paint sprayed down the Russ's right flank, a burst of green hit square on the side of the Hellhound.

"Hellhound team, you're out! What in the name of Terra was that?! Were you paying attention to your surroundings at all?! Extra training of every sort for you three! Russ team, you're the last ones left, so you win! You'll still be getting additional drills, your reactions were very slow and you'd lost your bolter too in that last hit! I've seen faster responses from servitors, and you've got to take more care than that! However, you'll also be getting additional desert rations tonight! Never let it be said I don't reward the successful. All teams, return your tanks to the yard. You'll be cleaning all paint off your machines before dinner! Chimera team, since you were the first to go out, you're going to be cleaning off Russ team's tank too! Russ team, go enjoy yourselves! DISMISSED!"


	4. Tau

Girls Und Warhammer 40kChaper 4: "Tau"

Two days before the first match...

The teams, along with much of the hive's inhabitants were awoken early in the morning by the Tau's arrival. A massive Manta starship soared past the hive, accompanied by another, larger Tau transport, two Imperial navy cruisers and a single black Inquisitorial vessel, rattling the entire hive from the roar of engines. The beige vessels touched down in the farms beyond the edge of the hive. Nanta, watching from the edge of the training ground began to take notes as she saw them emerge. First, a pair of Piranha emerged, hovering just above the ground. The T-shaped vehicles were small, not much bigger than a car with their two riders exposed to the elements. Under the nose, fusion cannons could be seen and a pair of gun drones were docked on each skimmer. Then, the real tanks emerged. All four were hovering like their smaller companions. Three were Hammerhead gunships, the leader of which Nanta noted worriedly was sporting a huge rail gun on its turret. The other two Hammerhead's had square missile racks on their turrets, and all three had a frontal fusion blaster and twin gun drones docked. The last was a Sky ray, with an identical chassis but instead of a turret, a large spoiler like construct sat on the rear, with six large missiles mounted under it. On its front, a pair of what appeared to be Gatling guns were mounted. Shortly after, a large, mechanical figure stomped out of the Manta's hold. It was an XV88 Broadside, a battle suit almost as tall as her Russ well renown for its ability to hunt tanks. It had a massive rail-rifle, and a pair of plasma weapons on its shoulder.

This was already a bad start, but it was about to get worse. The front of the other transport had opened up, and a battle suit almost the size of an Imperial knight emerged from within. Wider than the Russ and almost twice as tall, it bore a huge ion cannon that it held like a rifle, a pair of square fusion blasters on its arms and a shield was attached to its right arm.

…

"We're going to need a bigger tank." she later found herself telling the others. Dullahan had assigned her to scout the competition. "I think about the only good news is that they don't have anything with shields, except that big XV-104 Riptide anyway. Honestly Ma'am, I'm not sure what we can do. We're outnumbered and certainly outgunned."

"Hmm. Well, it wouldn't be the first time the imperium's been both. You're not wrong that its going to be difficult. Still, brute force won't be the only way to win. While you can win by disabling the entire enemy team, all the matches will have an alternate victory condition, which will be announced at the very start of each match. They won't be easy to accomplish but I think you're right that winning directly won't be possible this time. I suggest that you apply your team fully towards that goal, whatever it ends up being." their Sargent told them thoughtfully. "Oh, and stay away from the big one. Even if your whole team ambushed it, it's probably too fast to bring down without losing at least one tank."

"Ah, thanks for the advice! Still, I wish we had some way to at least hold that thing back. What do you know about their weapons Kelly?"

"Well, their main anti tank armaments here are the fusion guns and railguns. Fusion guns are quite comparable to imperial meltas in some ways, a short range weapon that melts armour but they fire in bursts instead of a stream. Very dangerous if we let them into range. Railguns launch a slug projectile at supersonic speed with magnetic force-going by the size of the ones these are using, they'll effectively ignore our armour and will probably be our biggest threat since one good hit will probably be it for whatever it strikes. The missiles on the Hammerheads won't pack a massive punch on their own but they'd still knock out subsystems no problem, and our lighter vehicles would be at risk against multiple hits. The ones on that Sky Ray really scare me too. They'll match anything we have for range, except the basilisk maybe and while they won't punch quite as hard they're far more accurate." Kelly finished.

"W-wow. That s-sounds pretty bad."

"'Fraid so. Tau specialise in ranged combat. They've almost no melee ability but we've nothing that can take advantage of that flaw."

"Hmm. Well, it seems I'm going to need to help you then." their Sargent suddenly responded.

"Huh?"  
"You need Melee support right? I've got an Armoured sentinel with a chain sword and flamer, and while you may be in charge of the team, I'm still your Sargent. What kind of commander would I be if I didn't help my troops out of a sticky situation? I'm going to help you girls."

"Ah, thank you ma'am! I think... yes, I think with your help... We'll stand a much better chance. I've no doubt of that. In fact, I'm starting to have an idea..."

…

The three Savlar were notably absent from this meeting however. They were instead heading through the Liberated market, though more cautiously than usual. They couldn't be sure that all of Marka's gang had perished or that one of them wouldn't take the loss personally, and instead of their normal swagger, the three skulked quietly on their way to Chimney's sleeping quarters. Her quarters had been the source of her name, a now disused furnace who's chemical soot had been the main cause of her permanently stained skin. The area was quiet though, relative safety compared to so much of the under hive. As Daisy rounded the corner to enter the old workshop, someone suddenly grabbed her, forcing her against the wall! She felt the cold touch of a laspistol being jammed under her chin.

"You'll never take me alive ya hear me!?"

"Oi, Chimney! What are you doin', it's us ya daft girl!" she replied, batting the laspistol away. She knew it was broken anyway.

"I-oh, Daisy! Sorry there!" Chimney replied and releasing her grip, re-holstering the pistol, looking incredibly relived.

"What's up with you's?! Ya been inhalin' something wierd or what?"

"Sorry, sorry. I've been on edge for two days, so tired..."

"Hey, what's up?" asked Buttercup, a note of concern in her voice.

"You knows that date ya setup for me?"

"Yeah, o' course. Slipped the note into her pack, she shoulda been there. A no show?" asked Tulip.

"Dunno, I didn't get tha' far. About a minute before I was gonna meet her, a Commissar only went and shown up! Spen' the whole date hiding under the presses until she left!" Chimney explained. Tulip had an odd expression on her face as Daisy responded.

"Oh man. No wonder we ain' heard anytin' from ya."

"Umm, Chimney, she weren't wearing a hat with a blue band instead o' red were she? Quite young for a Commissar too?" Tulip asked, the strange expression still on her face.

"Eh? Yeah, she were, why-"

"An' did she have a pretty big rack eh? Good skin?"

"Ah, yeah but what's your-" but before she could finish, Tulip burst out laughing, almost bent double with mirth!

"Girl, she WAS ya date ya big dummy!" she said in between busts of laughter.

"I-WHAT?!"

"Yeah, I mean remember wot ya asked me?"

"The best looking... wait..."

"Well, did I pick well or what eh?"

"Did you pick her right from the moment I said that?"

"Yup! Best lookin' was all yous wanted ya said!"

"You know, sometimes I really wish this thing was working..." Chimney said, her hand brushing against the pistol.

"Ah, c'mon girl! Tell me I didn' find ya a stunner!" Tulip said, laughter dying down but still with a massive grin on her face.

"I-But-Well, yeah, but she's a commie! I dun' wanna be shot!"

"Nah, she don't just shoot ya. She told us herself, the pistol's for guardsmen who abandon their posts, or really badly wounded. She ain' gonna shoot ya for asking her out, she shown up didn't she?" Daisy said thoughtfully.

"Oh, you think so?" asked Daisy, sounding unconvinced.

"Yeah, course! Tell ya what. Want me ta personally give her a nice apology an' ask her ta give ya a second shot?"

There was silence for a moment. Then, Chimney spoke.

"You, of all people, are going to personally apologise to a Commissar and ask her to give me another chance?"

"We made a deal right? I ain' gonna back out, I spat on it an' all!"

"Alright. I'll trust ya. I suppose ya did what I asked ya to, An' since its you... I'll give it a try, but if she goes for me in a way that involves guns or chainswords, I'll hunt ya'll down, ya hear me!?"

"Oi oi, no need ta worry! We'll make sure ya have the time of your lives!"

…

"Alright, we've almost got it! Mell, fire when ready!"

The Russ flew forward, bouncing hard as it flew over the mount of dirt. Mell was furiously adjustig the Russ's aim, trying to track their fast moving target. The shell fired off but went wide, thrown off by the jump. Mell shuddered as she always did at the sheer force and noise.

"Ahh, sorry!"

"It's fine, you couldn't see that, Kelly, another round!"

"Rodger that one!" said Kelly, who was already removing another shell from the rack.  
"Another jump, brace!" Tori called. The Russ once again shook, but didn't slow. They'd been working, as instructed, on their speed. The techpriests had tuned up their engine so it could now actually reach the normal top speed (which unfortunately was a mere 18mph) and they'd all been sent to a canid racetrack to practise. Russ team had spent the day shooting at the model rabbit that raced around the inside of said track, but had been ordered to do so while moving at full speed at all times.

"Firing!" Mell called. Once again the tank shook but this time, the target exploded in a spray of green paint.  
"Nice shot girl!" called Kelly.

"Right, I think that'll do it for the moment, that makes twenty five by my count and we need to reload anyway." Nanta said, and the tank ground to a halt, engine steaming slightly from running at full speed for so long.

As the five pulled themselves out, the Taurox rocketed past. It had been doing laps of the track, with orders to slalom round every other vehicle practising on it. Hellhound team had actually made a surprise effort to start actually showing up to practise without using their chem inhalers either. They had been firing at another target on the outside of the track, alongside other random targets that Dullahan would suddenly call down their vox. The techpriests had been winding around the track, and told to keep out of sight of the other vehicles. This mostly consisted of trying to hide behind the ramps on the track or bits of the stadium. Blue and the Catachan had been being lectured to on tactics, and practising quickly switching targets or hitting small weak point markers on targets. Every now and then, Dullahan would yell at everyone at one end to evade, usually shortly before a trio of shells would rain down one after the other from Basilisk team, who's aim had become scarily accurate, though the rate of fire was slow.

…

"Right, that'll do for the day. You've all managed to become a little less pitiful, though you've still a long way to go. Your match is tomorrow, so I've allowed you all an extra hours sleep-make use of it, and be here at eight in the morning ON THE DOT, GOT IT?"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Good! Dismissed!"

The three savlar decided this was their moment, and quickly headed over to the Catachan before they could leave.

"Oi oi, we gotta talk to ya!"

The eight Catachan and Commisar Blue turned as Daisy spoke. It very quickly became apparent to the Savlar just how much bigger the Catachan were than them.

"Oh aye? What do you little thieves want with us?" Kant asked, a very cold tone to her voice.

"Eh? Whaddya mean, we ain' taken anything from yous... have we?" Buttercup responded, confused.

"Nah, dun' think so. Whatcha calling us thieves for?" Tulip answered, crossing her arms and attempting to look intimidating, which was hard as Kant was quite a bit bigger than she was.

"Someone's been stealing our desert rations, as if you didn't already know!"  
"Eh? They have?"

"Wait, didn't one o' the ratlings tell us they'd found a bunch o' crushed desert pots?" Daisy said suddenly recalling what they'd been told a couple of days back.

"They did eh? C'mon girls, we're gonna get to the bottom of this!" Kant called to the others, who gave a mild cheer and set off at a jog toward the Auxila barracks where the Ratlings, Crunch and the various other abhumans of the unit were stationed.

...

"Well? Did you steal their deserts?" Blue asked, making the others jump.

"What? No, we din' do that! I don't like em, Tulip's allergic and Buttercup's dieting anyways."

"Hmm. Well, what did you want to ask then?"

"Ah, Miss? Umm, I wanted to ah... appologise for something." Tulip said, suddenly feeling a lot more nervous than she had.

"Oh? Don't tell me you did steal something..."

"No, I mean... Look, it's about the date!"

Blue looked startled at this.  
"You left that note?"

"Yeah, but it wasn' for me. It was for a friend of ours, Name o' Chimney. Thing is miss, she's real scared of Commissars and she kinda freaked. But she really wants to meet you still, this evenin' she said an.. umm... she was hoping you'd give her another chance? She's promised to be there this time..." Tulip trailed off. The three turned to Blue, looks of extreme comprehension on their faces.

"I'll take what you've said into consideration."

…

"Heads up Midge! Looks like we've got some company!" Catherine called from her vantage point the next day. The eight Catachan were making their way over to their barracks as Catherine slid down the flagpole next to the lookout tower.

"Umm, Hello there, can we help you?" Midge asked.

"Where are the deserts?! We demand answers!" one of the Catachan called.

"Yeah, we know you took them!" another spoke up. Before long, the entire group was calling out along similar lines. The Ratlings attempted to answer, but could barely get a word in edgeways. For a few moments this continued, then the Catachan started to advance for a moment. This did not last very long however since the huge figure of Crunch stepped over the heads of the ratlings and quite literally body-bounced the advancing figures, before calling out loudly "NOT... TAKE!.."

"N-not?..."

"WE... NOT... TAKE... OURS... TAKEN... TOO..." she spoke again.

"Your... your deserts were taken as well?"

"Yeah, we just got back from the stockpile. All desert rations have gone and there's signs of a break in!" Bluebottle told the Catachan from somewhere behind Crunch's leg.

"I'd say we should investigate but I just realised-the match starts in ten minutes!"

…

"Welcome all imperial citizens! As you should already know, this mandatory Vox-screen-cast will be showing the first round of the new imperial training tournament! My name is Kese and I'll be your commentator for today's match-and what a match it is folks! Today, our most local team, the Junior Guards-women team will be fighting against the Tau Empire! It's quite the underdog fight today, rates for the Guard to win are at fifty to one which is pretty good since bets against them are of course, considered Heresy and therefore criminal!"

Chimney was watching, alongside most of the market, on a massive screen that someone had stolen from the upper hives long ago. "C'mon there girls, make me proud! I gotta lot o' money riding on ya!" she cheered amongst the yells of the crowd. Aranov and his team were also watching on their much smaller staff room screen. "Baal, Kaise, Nairone, take care you three..." he murmured to himself.

"You will now all receive the call signs you will be using during this and future matches! Nanta, Tori, Kelly, Mell, Sally and Anne, you and your Russ have been designated Wolf team! Kant, Susan... umm... no names here, strange... you six catachan, your Chimera and Commissar Blue have been designated Scorpion Team! Baal, Nairone, Kaise, you and the Basilisk known as Ruin have been designated Snake team! Starsaky, Catch and... you with the name spelt in bhinaric, you and your Trojan have been designated Horse team! Daisy, Buttercup, Tulip, you and your Hellhound have been designated Dog team! Lastly, Midge, Bluebottle, Beam, Jade, Crunch, Jessica, Catherine, Kelsie, you and your Taurox have been designated Rat team! You will use these call signs during in match communications. Now, they are about to announce the special ruling for the match, eyes up!"

All groups turned to the screen.

"And of course, all matches will have two main victory conditions! Firstly, you can win by simply disabling every vehicle of the opposing team! So long as you have at least one functional vehicle remaining, victory will be yours! However, that's not the only way! I will now draw from the random lot bag to determine the alternate condition!" At this, he stuck his hand into a canvas bag and drew out a purity seal. On the seal, three words could be seen. FLAG-TANK-MATCH was printed in high gothic. "And it's a flag tank match! This ruling automatically designates two random vehicles from either team to be Flag tanks! If you can destroy the opponents flag tank, you instantly win the match! It's that simple! Servo Skull, pick us a tank would you darling?" The small floating drone next to his head opened its mouth, and a roll of parchment began to scroll out like a strange tongue. "Oh what a good sport you are! Well, no need to drag things out-For the imperium, it's the Leman Russ from Wolf team! And from the Tau empire, it's the XV-104 Riptide! That's one heck of a challenge for the locals, good luck out there girls! Now, I've just received word that we're ready to start! All teams to the start locations!"

…

The battleground for the match was the forest known as Agarn's Cloak, a rougly triangular area that covered barely five miles but was said to have been the place where the legendary guardsman Agarn himself fought off a hundred Hormagaunts despite being armed with only a failing power sword and missing an arm when the planet came under attack by Tyranid forces in the 43rd millennia. Unlike so many sites like such, the Imperium hadn't built a shrine over it, instead leaving the site as it had been found so long ago and banning normal entry to the site.

"Right, it seems that the contestants are in place, we're just awaiting the order to start!"

"Wolf team here! I'm ready to reveal our battle plan! We're outclassed in range and firepower, but we're faster for the most part and we're going to make use of our speed! Horse and Rat teams, head south along the river, scout to make sure we're not flanked! Scorpion Team, Dog team, scout the eastern area. Sarge, if you could go directly towards their location in the Southeast since you're the most nimble and experienced at operating alone. We will be staying with Snake team to protect them while they provide fire support-do not hesitate to call on them, they'll be attempting to shell anything that moves. We've two main objectives here. Firstly, we have to locate as many of their vehicles as quickly as we can-priority targets are the Riptide since that's the one we need to beat, the Rail gun Hammerhead since it's probably the most dangerous tank hunter they've got and the Sky ray since if we can take that out, we can out range them! Secondly, we need to protect Snake team! They've got the biggest, longest range gun and it's our best chance of destroying that Riptide. Finally, I'd recommend sticking to cover where you can but don't rely on it to stop their weapons since it won't-hiding might be our best chance here. I'll update you if the plan changes. Good luck all! I'm counting on you all!"

...  
The four teams split up fairly quickly. Sarge's sentinel walker fired up its chainsaw and began cutting a path through the trees with remarkable speed as the others headed out. Russ team had dismounted and had began help the Basilisk team by setting up a ring of sandbags around it when they got the first sign of the enemy.

"Hey, you hear that?" Tori asked suddenly. A low humm was coming from the treeline ahead of them.

"Yeah, what... no way, it couldn't be them already could it?" Kelly responded, but a moment later the source of the noise made itself clear. A tau drone floated out of the trees, then stopped dead in mid air. It turned to the Basilisk, fixing it with a stare from its single red eye-then let loose with a laser weapon!

"Ah! Hey, gerroff!" Sally said, running at it and attempting to grab it but it floated upward out of her reach.

"What's it doing? It's not doing any damage..."

"What isn't?" Baal asked, looking understandably confused.

"W-wait, a red beam d-doing no damage from a tau d-drone, it's a marker light!" Mel suddenly called "We're being spotted! We've g-got to get rid of it!"

"Everyone to the Russ! Snake team, can you hit it with the bolter?"

"We'll try!" Baal called. Nairone let rip with the heavy bolter as, having arrived at the Russ, the twins did the same. The drone however was bobbing and weaving, avoiding their fire while continuing to keep its beam tracked on the Basilisk. There was a flash, and barely five feet from the tank a missile streaked down from the sky and detonated! Ruin bucked to one side from the force of the blast as the tools attached to its side were thrown off and Nairone had to grab hold of the aiming handle to avoid being thrown from the deck!

"They've got our location, we've got to get moving!"

…

Rat and Horse teams were just rounding a bend obscured by a massive, willow-like tree growing from the river when they heard the streak of a missile launch.

"Starsaky, that had to be the Sky ray. How could they have located a target so quickly?"

"They shouldn't have been able too. Non of their machines, even the smallest should be that fast. Something is wrong here." Starsaky followed this up with a screech of bhinaric, and the other techpriest returned in kind, firing up their auspex scanner. The trojan didn't have much but it did have room for tools that, thanks to their cybernetic augmentations the tech priests wouldn't need, so they'd fitted some light reconnaissance gear in its place. A radar image lit up, and the scanning started.

"01010000000000001..."

"I see... they've deployed drones as forward scouts. It's the only reason I can think of for the responses being so weak. Rat team, this is Engineer Starsaky! The enemy is using their drones to survey the area! Shoot them down on sight!"

"Uh, Like those ones?" Midge replied. Four gun drones had emerged from the tree line and made a break for them. "Um, what are you all waiting for? Open fire!"

Both tanks did just that. One gun drone was struck by the Taurox's auto cannons and detonated instantly, and one was clipped by the stubber on the Trojan but though it dropped, it wasn't disabled.

"BIGGER... THINGS..." Cruch suddenly said, her voice loud enough to be clear even over the noise of the guns. The two piranha had emerged from around the tree-line ahead. They floated into a line ahead of them, and one of the crewmen from each pointed their rifles at the imperial tanks. More marker lights emerged, one targeting each machine.

"The enemy is targeting us for bombardment! It would be advisable to disable the Piranhas or break their lock!" Starsaky called over the vox. "We should attempt to hide in the tree-line for now, we're not going to be able to match them in the open!"

She was right. Both vehicles had revved their engines and moments after the roar of multiple missile launches rang out from the Hammerheads somewhere inside the forest, a stream of explosions lit up the riverbank! While they were moving as fast as they could and keeping as concealed as they could, they simply weren't fast enough to get out of the line of sight of the two skimmers, a problem made worse by the fact that they couldn't ignore the rough ground unlike their pursuers. The piranha's crew had their marker lights tracking their tanks almost perfectly despite the shaky route and every few seconds another missile would detonate nearby.

"Dammit, we can't hit them while they're behind us! Can't we turn and face them?!" Catherine yelled from her position behind the Taurox's left auto cannon.

"No can do, if we stay too still the missiles will get us and if we get too close, they'll hit us with their fusion cannons!" Midge replied.

"Why couldn't we get a Taurox with a turret?!" wailed Bea. "Isn't there anything we can do?!"

…

Dog and Scorpion teams were practically flying along the forest road. Buttercup was pushing its engine to its limit and it was all Susan could do to get the Chimera to keep up.

"Oi oi, this is Dog team... Drones? Wossat? Shoot em? Can do!" Daisy responded, hanging up the vox transceiver. "Rat team says shoot the drones, whatever those is."

"Like them flyin' mushrooms over there?" Tulip asked, looking down the sight.

"Yeah, let's take 'em down, Savlar style!" Daisy called. Four more gun drones had appeared from the treeline, followed by two carrying spherical objects below them. "Burn 'em up!"

Both tanks opened up, the spray of las-fire from the chimera's multi laser barely visible behind the huge gout of flame from the Hellhound's inferno cannon. The two spherical drones moved to the front with blinding speed, and the spheres lit up, blue bubble-shaped shields emitting from them that stopped the laser beams dead and causing the jet of promethium to splash everywhere! However, they had been designed to stop small arms fire and the blazing hot flames suddenly overwhelmed first one, then the other and the two drones detonated in quick succession! The gun drones, now in range began to fire, attempting to flank the two vehicles. Unfortunately for them, the Chimera didn't have any real blind spots and, eager to finally get to shoot at something, the Catachan crew opened fire with their lasgun arrays! Three of the drones were caught out as they tried to get behind the Chimera with the fourth dodging the main jet of flame from the Hellhound before promptly being caught by its hull flamer, flying for a few seconds before something overheated and it detonated in mid air.

"Yes! We got them!" Kant called, about a second before there was a whip like crack, a deafening bang, and Commissar Blue vanished into the flash of light as the turret of the Chimera was torn to shreds...


	5. Shake the Earth

Girls Und Warhammer 40kChapter 5: "Shake the earth"

"Your bolt pistol is your mercy. When guardsmen flee, the resulting break can mean death for their unit, their army, the whole planet. If one man runs, others may follow. Defensive lines break down. Preventing this is your responsibility. Do not consider it as a tool to execute an individual, but to save the whole. Those you see before you are criminals and heretics alike, and they will be the first you extend your mercy to. Take aim."

Trainee Commissar Blue raised her pistol, as did the other trainee and women lined up beside her. In front of her was a man wearing little more than rags, chained to the wall beside the other criminals. A large metal ring, studded with spikes in the shape of the eight pointed star of chaos was embedded painfully into his shoulder. Blue felt the instinctive disgust that always filled her when she saw the workings of chaos-but something seemed different this time. Most of the heretical looking prisoners were raving, practically rabid but this one seemed to be more with it. He was looking right at her and instead of jabbering or cursing like the others he spoke much more quietly.

"I didn't know... I didn't know what they were really like... I just wanted something to eat... so hungry..."

Blue's hand shook slightly.

"Alright. Aim for centre mass, and shoot twice on my word. Three-"

Blue tightened her grip.

"Don't, please! I'll change, I'll-"

"Two-"

She placed her hand on the trigger. Chaos scum like this deserve it, she told herself sternly.

"I'm sorry! Please, don't!"

"One!"

There was a series of screams and the loud, ringing bangs of bolt pistols firing. Blue's hand was starting to shake in earnest.

"Trainee Blue? Is there a problem?"

"No sir."

"Then why haven't you fired?"

The man was bawling, curled up as best he could despite the chains.

"Sir, it's just... what did he do?"

The commissar trainer sighed as he walked over. It wasn't the first time he's seen this. He placed one large hand on Blue's, steadying her arm.

"If you think about that, you won't be able to do it. You are going to be a Commissar of the Imperium. Pull the trigger Blue."

"No, don't!" the man called.

"I-I-AghhhhHHHHH" Blue screamed, and pulled the trigger. After that, all that remained was the sound...

…

She opened her eyes. She'd heard the same sound, but she couldn't see the bleeding shreds of that man, though the image was as fresh in her mind as ever. Instead, the wind was whipping at her hair from the top of the now badly wounded Chimera. She looked at her hands, half expecting to see her black pistol there. They were translucent, faintly green and crackling with lightning. The shield unit attached to her belt was suddenly very, very hot and despite feeling like she was in a daze Blue quickly realised what had happened. She looked back down at the Chimera. Small, ragged holes were visible all around the Chimera's roof, and the turret ring was bent and cracked, especially toward the rear. She could hear the Catachan yelling, one screaming but it was muffled, as if far away. Looking from side to side, she suddenly saw the reason for the Chimera's sudden conversion to a convertible. A Hammerhead was visible through the trees, only visible thanks to the rather large hole it's projectile had punched through the trees. It's rail-gun was smoking gently.

"Hey! Hey! Blue, Blue, are you alright?!" Kant had appeared up in the shredded remains of the turret and was shaking her. "Blue, are you ok?!"

"I-Yes, Kant. I-I'm fine."  
"It's Susan ma'am! She's hurt! She took her shield off for a moment so she could adjust her seating and she's got hit by whatever that was! What do we do?!" Kant asked, a desperate panic in her eyes.

"Don't worry. Let's see what's going on down here. Can anyone else drive? We have to get away from the Hammerhead. What are the Savlar doing?" she asked-but got her answer almost immediately. A wave of fire suddenly surged out in front, the Hellhound moving past slowly while firing continually. A voice sounded on the Chimera's Vox.

"Oi Oi, Blue, Kant, what's going on?"

"Daisy, we're in trouble here. We've an injured crewman and our turret is completely gone! We need time to recover and get out of sight of that Hammerhead!"

"Got it boss! We're already puttin' up a big ol' wall o' fire to hide us, oughta buy us a min! How's the girl?"

...

Susan was not good. She'd only been hit by a fragment of metal smashed off by the rail gun round but it had torn right through the muscle on her left arm, right down to the bone. Two of the girls were holding her down in the back of the cabin as another tried desperately to get the Chimera restarted, having stalled when they were hit.

"Susan, it's me, Blue!"

"H-hey boss... agh! How b-bad is it?"

It was bad. She was losing blood fast.

"I don't know, I only learnt basic first aid, but I know it could get much worse if we don't act quick." Blue said. She unfastened her belt, and moved to Susan's arm."This will hurt a bit, sorry." she said, lifting up her arm. Susan writhed uncontrollably but the two held her in place as Kant held her other hand. Blue put the belt around the very top of her arm and fastened it as tightly as she could.

"That should stop the bleeding for now but you're going to need help. You two, keep her as comfortable as you can. Kant, as commander, a choice now falls to you."

"C-choice?"

"Yes. You can, if you deem it to be the best course of action, order the crew of this vehicle to keep fighting. To surrender would be considered both cowardly and heretical, with you being personally responsible for whatever happens next. Plenty would prioritize the successful completion of their mission over the lives of their soldiers, and your orders were not to embarrass your regiment. You would not be punished for choosing to do so. However, you are fully aware of what may happen if your crew mate doesn't get help fast. The choice is yours."

Kant seemed to freeze, thinking hard. Susan was in trouble, she knew that for certain. If she didn't get back soon, she'd bleed out sure as day. But to surrender would be to curse her fellows, forever branding them as cowards, not to mention making the already difficult task of ensuring victory even less likely.

"Susan... what do I do?" she asked her friend, desperate for any input that could make the decision easier.

"D-don't worry about me! Your t-team needs you, I'll-aaaaghhh!-I'll be alright..." she answered, but she didn't look like she'd be alright, far from it, her face was turning paler by the moment as the floor of the cabin became slick with blood. And then, it hit her, like a lightning bolt. She knew what she had to do.

"Commander Dullahan, this is Scorpion team. One of our crewmen has been severely injured and our tank rendered almost completely ineffective. We need immediate medical support and intend to surrender from the match."

"You know what this will mean for you Commander Kant?"

"Yes ma'am but I do not intend to drop out before completing the task you set for us. If you can give us five minutes, we will disable one of their most dangerous tanks for you, I promise! We will destroy that Hammerhead!"

There was a moments silence.  
"Very well. A medical team will be sent straight to your location. Do not let me down."

…

The Taurox tore through the forest, followed closely by the Trojan and then the Piranhas.

"Rat team, their barrage has halted! I believe they have exhausted their supply. If we have a move to make, now is the time to do it!" Starsaky's synthesised voice crackled over the vox.

"I hear you Horse team. I think I have an idea but it's risky. See that flat section up ahead?"

"Confirmed."

"Once we hit it, I need you to step on it, get every bit of speed out of that engine that you can manage!"

"Understood. We will boost our output but our engine won't last long. Your techpreist, Jade I believe, can do the same."

"Sounds good! When I signal, hit the brakes and be ready to fire!"

"I see. Blessings of the Omnisiah be on your machine's spirit."

At this, Starsaky moved to the engine. She drew out a vial from under her robes as one of her mechanical tendrils snaked over to the fuel additives tank, unscrewing the cap while priming the mechanism on the vial for release.

"May he bless the holy Nitrous, and may his fire speed this child to victory!"

A moment later, they hit the flat. She plunged the vial onto the tank, screwed it down and flicked the release in one smooth movement. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the engine howled and the cylinders glowed red, orange, yellow and finally white as the whole unit rattled furiously in it's mountings. With a lurch and a scream from it's gearbox the Trojan pulled forward, tracks blazing in a shower of sparks! It overtook the Taurox for a moment before fire and smoke bellowed out it's exhaust and it too surged forward like a bull stung by a hornet, even faster than the speeding Trojan! The two Piranha's were suddenly left behind for a moment, their riders surprised by the burst of speed from what they'd seen as rather sluggish vehicles. However, they weren't stunned for long and as their Markerlight wielding co-pilots sat down, their engines flared and they shot forward, quickly closing the gap.

"They've taken the bait! The moment they open up with their fusion cannons, step on the brakes, just for a moment!"

For a few seconds, the four machines raced across the flat reaches at the edge of the forest. Then, the two Piranhas' nose cannons spat blue pulses at the imperial tanks!

"NOW! THE ONE ON THE LEFT FIRST!" Midge yelled down the vox. Both drivers stamped on their brake pedals and the Tau shot past. Then, the two opened fire! Their aim, thrown off by their speed was good nonetheless and explosive cannon rounds met stubber bullets on the left Pihrana's wing. The thruster, exposed at that angle detonated and it suddenly nosedived, crashing off the ground and spiralling away in flames as the Tau's ejector seats fired, flinging their pilots away from their quickly disintegrating mount. The second however had spun around and was now flying right at the two, cannon spitting blue bolts of energy! The armour on the front of the Trojan hissed and sparked as the bolts hit it, the paint bubbling and boiling off as the metal approached melting point. However, before they could get through, the Taurox hit something.

The front left track on the Taurox had had a hard life. It had been missed out when the Taurox was being oiled when first built, suffered through forty years of hard campaigning on a rather wet world, crashed into a river during training and been left there for a considerable period of years. Now, it had struck something very solid indeed while already travelling much faster than it was really designed for. If it could have spoke, it would have said something along the lines of "You know what? I give up. Do your worst." Either way, as it hit the half buried object, the metal gave way and the hub shattered. The track rattled off into the distance as gear wheels were flung away.

Then, with no warning, the world seemed to explode. The Taurox's crew saw the flash and heard the thump of something detonating as their machine kicked off into the air, then fell back down hard, crashing down then onto one side and sliding downwards. Dirt hammered against the hull of their machine and through the open windows. For a moment, all was silent but for the steady rain of falling debris.

"What on holy Terra was that?!" Bluebottle asked from somewhere under the dashboard.

"BIG... CRASH..." Crunch answered from below four of the other crewmembers.

"No... no kidding..." Bea groaned. "We didn't make that explosion did we?"

"This is Horse team. Rat team, are you ok?"

"I think so. What was that?"

"A blessing from the Omnisiah! Make haste to exit your vehicle! Your actions have uncovered our salvation!"

The Taurox's side hatch (though at this angle, sun-roof seemed a better name) seemed to be jammed at first, until Crunch gave it an almighty shove. Dirt and grass poured in as she did. She then gave them all a hand exiting, lifting them in a single hand and holding them up to the hatch for them to climb out. As Midge stood up, she first noticed the half buried Piranha, nose poking out through the dirt and it's crew sailing down over the treeline on parachutes. Then, she noticed the three Techpriests. They were cheering loudly, calling out praise and Starsaky was practically dancing! And as Midge turned, seeing what had been uncovered in the mystery blast, she realised exactly why.

"Is that what I think it is?"

…

The Markerlight drone that had been spotting Snake team was continuing to flit around the Basilisk. Both tanks were moving now, trying to track it with their heavy bolters but it seemed to be a lot smarter than the other drones had been. It had moved so that it was, to the Russ, behind the Basilisk, keeping it safe from the Russ's much more mobile bolters while the Basilisk itself couldn't turn fast enough to get it in sight of it's own weapons which were locked facing forward.

"No good, we can't shake this thing!" Baal called over the vox to Wolf team.

"We've got to get out of it's sight, we're no help like this! Follow Sarge's path, it's all we can do to throw off their aim! If they don't have direct line of sight to the drone, they probably can't completely lock us down!" Nanta called back and the two vehicles rumbled forward. The bulldozer on the front of the Basilisk was helping but they still weren't moving fast and the fourth missile they'd seen plunged down, even closer than the others, causing dirt and broken bits of branch to clatter off the front of the Russ.

"W-wait a m-moment, they're trying t-to get our t-tank right? How c-come the drone h-hasn't seen it?" Mell suddenly asked, still trying to get a clear line on the drone but it was now hovering so close to the front of the Basilisk's gun shield that it was effectively un-touchable from that angle.

"Mell, that's it! It's small, fast, smart and long ranged so something's got to have given to make a drone like that-what if it's only got the capacity to track one target?" Kelly suddenly exclaimed.

If so, then if we can just get it to lose lock for a moment, we can get it to follow us! We can get away and give Snake team a chance to setup, actually let them give us fire support!" Nanta said, flicking the on switch for the Vox. "Snake team, release smoke! We're going to lead the drone to the riverbank, give you all time to set up!"

"But you're the flag tank! If they get a direct hit-" Baal tried to object.

"It's fine! That drone is only giving them a vague lock, it's not giving a strong enough signal to get a perfect shot lined up and our armour's much stronger than yours. We need that Earthshaker of yours firing if we're going to stand a chance!"

"If you're sure, then alright! We'll do it! Smoke's up!" Baal said. A moment later, with a thunk, six smoke grenades launched out from Ruin's launchers. Normal smoke grenades would just block vision but Ruin was top of the line in every aspect and the clouds of grey smoke were filled with shimmering metal chaff. The drone was suddenly blinded, and it halted dead in the air. It began to slowly turn on the spot, clearly looking for something-and it found exactly what they hoped it would, locking onto the Russ. Nanta tried to wish them good luck as they took off towards the bank, but there was no response-clearly the smoke was doing its job.

As the Russ crashed through the forest, battering aside small trees and crushing branches, the fifth missile came down, hitting a tree on the way and scattering flaming debris!

"One left! Those Sky Rays only hold six, if we can dodge the last one we'll be in the clear!" Kelly called out. It must have already been launched because barely a second after she said that it detonated almost directly in front of the Russ! Their tank bucked from the explosive force but its tough frontal armour held fast and they rode through the fire!

"That's it! We're clear!" Tori called. For a few moments, as they broke through the line of trees to emerge by the river, they were indeed clear.

"W-wait, I s-see something!" Mell called back, looking concernedly at something through the viewfinder. A moment later, the gigantic figure of the Riptide, held aloft by the massive thruster pack on it's back came crashing down in front of them, smashing trees as it came down and rolling as it hit the ground before breaking into a stomping charge! Mell, reacting before she could even speak turned the turret as the Tau mech raised its rifle. However, Mell was faster and loosed off a shot but the mech was already raising its shield arm and the shell detonated harmlessly against it! For a moment, Wolf team were certain it was the end as the gigantic ion rifle, longer than their whole tank was raised to them. Then, with a flash of brass, the ground at the feet of the Riptide exploded! Snake team had pointed their Earthshaker flat through the trees and tried for a direct shot, and though it didn't hit the Riptide was knocked off its balance! It kept going for a moment but hit the Russ going the other way and tripped! It's shot went skyward with a crack and a flash of blue plasma! However its pilot was good and it easily recovered, rolling again while firing its jet pack and disappearing backwards into the tree-line.

"D-did we get it?"

"Don't think so. I had no idea that thing could fly!" Nanta answered, as the Russ swung around to face the tree-line in-case it decided to fire back.

"I think it maybe thought there were more of us around than they realised. It'll be back. They've seen that we can't break its shield, even with out best gun. I can only assume they're going to gather help and come back." Kelly mused.

"You're almost certainly right. They found us quicker than I'd have ever imagined possible. We need to clear the tree line, find them before they find us. Anne, Sally, Kelly, light up the trees!"

"Got it!" the twins called back and with a cackle of manic laughter, began to spray the trees with bolter fire as Kelly took the Lascannon's controls and began to use it to slice through the bigger ones. The sound of trees crashing down filled the forest, smoke and splinters flying as the bolters smashed through bush and trunk alike. Then, Nanta's readout beeped and lit up!

"Hey, what's this? Our radar's working now! I'm getting three readings from that direction!" Nanta called, utterly baffled.

"I t-thought it had cut out w-when we entered the treeline?"

"It did! Unless... That's it! The trees! They're Agarnian Ironwoods right? Unique to this planet and named for their high mineral content. What if the reason the Tau have been so inaccurate with their long range fire IS the trees? The metal in the wood is messing with their sensors! I know how we can win but we'll have to move fast! Tori, take us north! The thickest part of the forest, quick!"

…

The Chimera and Hellhound burst through the wall of fire, charging headlong at the Hammerhead! The Chimera was in front, all lasguns firing wildly and swerving from side to side wildly! The Hammerhead began firing with its burst cannon, sending a stream of energy rounds at the damage roof of the Chimera! Fragments clattered around the cabin as the already perforated metal broke down further but they kept moving!

"Oi oi, time to cut ya's down to size! Geddum Tulip!"

"Eat some o' this ya fish faced freaks! I'll fry ya!" Tulip called, and a huge gout of flame sprayed fourth from the Hellhound's turret. However, before the spray reached full pressure, there was a flash of light and a crack from the railgun! The metal shot struck right along the top of the Hellhound's track and tore straight through it! Track links, armour and wheels alike shattered and the Hellhound was thrown sideways by its own momentum. The jet of flame went wide as Dog team were sent spinning out, grinding to a halt. The Chimera ran on though, skewing sideways as it reached the Hammerhead.

"Hit their lenses! Blind that tank!" Kant called to the Catachan who weren't doing what they could to help Susan. With a roar of agreement, their three lasguns fired, repeatedly striking the lenses by the side of the turret!

"Oi Oi, we've gots to help e'm out! Why ain' we firin?"

"I'm tryin' Daisy but she won' move! Sommin's wrong with the turret!" Tulip called, desperately trying to turn it and pulling as hard on the controls as she could, but the rail gun round had cut clean through the turret's main hydraulics cable and despite her effort it was effectively frozen.

"C'mon Daisy, we gotta push it! They's got an injured girl aboard, we gotta help her! If she's hit again she'll die!" Buttercup called, abandoning her useless driving controls and joining Tulip, who had also given up on her controls, stepping down and pushing on the very turret itself. Daisy joined them, shoving as hard as she could in an attempt to get their weapon to face the Hammerhead. Said Hammerhead's gun let off another shot which punched clean through the back of the Chimera, missing its engine by barely a few inches. "Come on, come on! Move, please!" Buttercup called, pushing as hard as she could against the turret as it very, very slowly began to grind round!

"Eeep!" Kant cried out as a rail gun round crashed through the ceiling barely an inch from her face, punching multiple holes into the floor of the transport but missing the crew, the bang leaving a ringing sound in the ears of the entire crew. They were continuing to fire, Blue helping target anything she could that looked fragile but the lasguns weren't well suited for damaging vehicles and were struggling to even break the lenses!

"Blue, what do we do?!" Kant called, desperation in her voice.

"I-I don't know!" she called back, realising the truth. There was nothing they could do. And then, it got even worse. A tree nearby was suddenly smashed in two, as the fist of the Tau's Broadside punched right through it!

"No! Look out!" Buttercup screamed as the Broadside too brought its gun to bear on the helpless Chimera! For a moment, time seemed to stand still. They all knew it. Even if their safety shields held, the Chimera would be torn to pieces if hit by another two shots. The survival chances weren't exactly good.

Then, something large and green came sprinting out of the tree-line! It sprang like a raptor, flying across the clearing and clamping a pair of massive metal claws as hard as it could into the shoulders of the Broadside!

"Hold on girls, I've got you!" Sarge's voice called over the vox! The Broadside bucked and tried to shake it off but the Sentinel's left claw clamped down even harder on its shoulder, beginning to crumple it as the other grabbed its arm and pulled it upward! Before the Hammerhead could fire its final, finishing blow against the Chimera, the flailing Broadside's gun went off with a crack and smashed into the Hammerhead's hull! Its engine detonated, blasting blue fire from the hole it had made on its way through and the tank. The damage robbed the machine of its lifting power and it crashed to the ground, pinning the side of the Chimera. Sarge had just managed to bury her machines chainsaw into the Broadside's plasma rifles before her Sentinel was thrown off! The Broadside's plasma weapons swivelled around to face it, but they only sparked and would not fire. Seemingly realising what had gone wrong, it brought its rail gun to bear on the Sentinel as Sarge, knowing the jig was up opened the hatch and scrambled out! There was yet another crack as it put a hole directly through the Sentinel, crumpling the crew cabin and disabling it completely.

"OIIII! SARGE! GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Daisy called across the clearing! Sarge heard, then turned, saw what was about to happen and scrambled to her feet as the Tau turned to find the source of the sound.

"TAKE THIS YA BLUE SCUM, BURRRRRN!" roared Tulip as she jammed her hand onto the fire button.

"AGGGGHHHH!" screamed Buttercup. With no way to elevate the barrel, without a word, she'd dived out of the tank and was now on the roof, holding up the barrel with nothing more than a rag to keep the scorching heat of the barrel and the sparks of promethium from her skin! Despite the searing pain and the tears welling up in her eyes, she held fast, lifting the barrel further to get the Tau mech in reach of the burning spray! The promethium jet engulfed the Broadside entirely as it was struck, their Sarge sprinting away as her Sentinel was also splashed by the flaming liquid! A moment later, its cabin blew open and the Tau ejected as the Broadside's hull bulged, then detonated, the shock wave throwing Buttercup from the roof and knocking the Sargent off her feet! For a moment, there was silence, but for the sputtering from the Hellhound, its fuel now completely drained.

"Buttercup! Are you ok?!" Daisy yelled as she threw open the emergency side hatch, scrambled through it and ran to her friend, lying on the ground nearby and clutching her badly burned arms to her chest, tears streaming down her face. "Why'd you have to go and do that? You didn't owe them anything!" Dasiy asked, beginning to cry herself as she lifted her, holding her close to her chest.

"S-she'd have died, I-I couldn't..." Buttercup sobbed between gasps of air.

"You... you did great..." Tulip told her, trying to keep her voice straight but it cracked as she continued "You saved her!"

"MEDIC!" Daisy called to the sky in desperation "ANYONE?! PLEASE!"

And, as if in answer to her prayer, with a flurry of turbines and a roar of wind, a metallic angel appeared. Painted white with large red crosses marking its wings, the Valkyrie came soaring down from out of the mid-day sun, touching down hard nearby. Six medical guardsmen emerged at a run, one spotting the Savlar's waves and cries and breaking off from the four headed to the now open doors of the pinned Chimera.

…

"This is Sarge. Thanks to the efforts of Scorpion and Dog team, we have disabled the Rail gun Hammerhead and the Broadside. However, all three of our machines are disabled and... and we've two badly wounded. They are receiving medical attention now but there's nothing more we can do. I wish all remaining teams good luck."

"Thank you Sarge. I hope they're all ok..." Nanta said as she adjusted the dials on the vox. "Snake team, are you all set up?"

"This is Snake team, we're ready to go but we haven't heard anything from the others in a while. What's going on?"

"It's the trees, they're muffling our signals, I think that's why the Tau have been struggling as well. Rat team, Horse team, do you copy? I repeat, Rat team, Horse team, do you read me?"

"Nothing?" Tori asked.

"Nothing. We can only assume it's just us two left. Snake team, train your gun on our current co-ordinates. We may need you to fire at a moments notice. Anne, take the Vox, when I call out to fire I want you to relay the message. I'm going to take a quick look out, see if I can see any sign of the Riptide. With this area cleared, it's probably best if we make our final stand here where our radar works, it should buy us a few seconds at least."

"...Wolf team, come in, this is Rat team, come in! We're on our way but this thing's almost completely rust, don't know how long it'll-"

"We hear you rat team, where are you?" Anne called as Nanta surveyed the forest.

"About two... …We found... …damaged and full of dirt but running... …on our way to your locat-"

"Rat team, we can't hear you, come in!" Anne repeated but no no avail.

"Damnit!" Catherine yelled, thumping the rusted old vox.

"Keep trying Catherine! Crunch, Jade, any news on the gun?" Midge yelled.

"We have loaded one round but the breach is jammed! It's all we'll get!" Jade called back.

"Then it'll have to do! See if you can't get that Vox working again, we need to warn them of what we're going to do!"

Back at the Russ, Kelly suddenly spoke up.

"Do you feel that?"

"F-feel what?" Mell asked her.

"That rumbling of course!" she said.

"I don't f-feel anything!"

"Heads up you two, we've got company!" Nanta suddenly called. "Both Hammerheads, and the Riptide is following behind them! It's using the other tanks as cover!"

The Hammerheads had reloaded, and both suddenly opened up, firing rocket after rocket as the Russ too fired. There was a clang as the battle cannon's shell deflected off the armoured front of the Hammerhead, followed by a series of explosions as multiple missiles hit the Russ and the ground around it. Before they could strike though, a Lasgun round flew out from the Russ too, hitting the other Hammerhead and unlike the shell, it cut through, severing one rocket pod and sending missiles flying at random! An ion shot blasted out through the smoke, striking the ground by the right bolter and exploding! The force smashed the sponson and almost rolled the Russ, sending it sliding across the forest floor!

"...Wolf team get out of the way!" came the voice of Midge, barely audible over the second wave of explosions.

Barely two seconds later, the loudest explosion any of Wolf team had ever heard sounded. An enormous line of trees was blasted skywards directly behind where they had been a moment earlier as a shockwave sent a huge flurry of branches and leaves into the air in a forward spiral! For a mere moment, Nanta saw the black streak of a shell fly past before it struck the ground underneath the two Hammerheads!

"Oh, look at that. The humans missed again." one of the the Hammerhead's crew laughed to his companions for a moment. That was about the moment that the shell detonated. The very earth shook and surged upwards in a massive brown cloud! Trees shattered and uprooted from the force as one of the Hammerheads was flipped right over, and the other was tipped backwards! As it hung in the air for a moment, three lascannons struck it simultaneously, one from the Russ and one from the source of the mysterious shell! It crashed to one side disabled but the Riptide, not directly struck had fired up its pack and flown through the still surging cloud! The fusion blasters on its shoulders were torn off by the surging debris along with its antenna but it kept going!

"Anne, Now!"

"Fire!" Anne called down the vox. Nairone pulled the trigger and the Earthshaker fired yet again! Its shell struck the Riptide in mid flight an it crashed downwards, the shield wielding arm breaking off as it rolled head over heels! It managed to recover, spinning on the spot, and with a sudden glow from its chest, the Ion cannon flared as the reactor amped up its output and fired a massive blast off behind the Russ! The explosion was blinding but it didn't stop its target. Nanta's jaw dropped as she saw what had arrived behind them. The largest tank she'd ever seen, at least four times the size of the Russ had come crashing out of the treeline! Flattening an oak that was wider than she was tall, the tank ground to a halt as the Tau let off another shot-but to no avail. The shot exploded on the surface but the armour held fast. It tried to move around it but two billowing clouds of fire erupted from the pair of quad flamethrowers mounted in its two side sponsons, completely cutting off escape to either side!

"Shell's up, fire now!" Kelly called, slamming the breach shut!

"T-take this!" Mell said, pulling the trigger! The back of the Riptide exploded, and it stumbled forward. For a moment, it stayed upright-then, very slowly, it toppled backward. The ejector seat fired, and a moment later, the overstressed reactor exploded, sending bits of mech skyward in a plume of blue-grey smoke.

"We... WE DID IT!"


	6. Wolf Team

Girls Und Warhammer 40kChapter 6:Wolf Team

"And that's it! Ladies, Gentlemen, Xenos and other, this match is over! Winning by both total knockout AND disabling of the Tau flag tank, against every odd, our young guards-women win the day! What a match!" Kese cheered over the Vox cast. Meanwhile, Wolf teams members were hugging each other and cheering!

"I can't believe it! We won, we won! Why'd I ever judge you on a little thing like your planet, come here you!" Kelly said, hugging Mell.

"I d-didn't really do anything..." she said embarrassedly but her face had gone red and she was smiling hugely.

Nanta however had broken away from the main crowd and was sitting on the roof of the Russ, looking over at Rat team, or rather, what they'd found. The Taurox and Trojan had been chained up to the rear of a gigantic Banehammer, an enormous super-heavy tank. It had, it would seem, been dragging the two around for the last half of the match. The giant showed signs of the ion blasts from the same weapon that had damaged their Russ just from a near miss but it was skin deep, the armour cratered and scorched but not broken. It was packed to the brim with weaponry-on the front, a twin-linked heavy bolter sat below the huge Quake cannon who's barrel was so wide Nanta could have crawled into it! On either side was a sponson, consisting of a Lascannon on their own individual turrets above a quad heavy flamer. Two heavy stubbers flanked the open fighting deck behind the large, square casemate that held its main gun, which alone was bigger than Wolf team's entire tank. It was in a bad way though. Rust caked every inch of its surface that wasn't also covered with dirt or the remains of various plants (including an entire small tree) still clinging to its surface. Part of the barrel for the main gun was entirely missing, separated like a missing pizza slice, sheared off by the shot earlier combined with the damage done by the rust. The members of Rat and Horse team were climbing out onto the roof which was easily large enough to hold every one of them and then some.

"Heeeeeey! Thanks for the help! Where'd you find that thing?" Nanta called over.

"We ran into it! Set the gun off when we hit it but our Taurox was rolled over, we just about managed to start this thing up and figured it was our best chance to help!"

…

The Valkarie soared through the skies at top speed toward the medical wing of the training centre. The entire crew of both the Chimera and the Hellhound had abandoned their machines and boarded alongside the medics.

"Well, Miss Buttercup, you're not in any life ending risk but the burns are severe. I know exactly how hot Promethium gets and it's certainly something I wouldn't recommend touching again. Your hands will heal but it they'll never be completely back to normal and say goodbye to your fingerprints, you've burned them off entirely. Your forearms have multiple small burns from the Promethium sparks too. It's very likely the skin on your hands will never return to its original colour either and I'd expect some numbness, maybe permanently."

"Thanks... I'll try not to do that again..."

"How about Susan? Is she ok?" Kant asked, sitting next to her stretcher.

"I'm afraid her injury is worse than it looks. She's not going to bleed out any more but the force behind that hit didn't just shred the muscles it touched. Her arm and muscles were twisted extremely badly. Her shoulder ligaments may have torn, and the muscle fibres in her upper arm are heavily shredded. We may have to amputate-there's so much missing muscle fibre the hole probably won't heal-but we'll need to get her to the facility before we can say for certain."

"A-amputate?" Kant asked, shocked.  
"I'm afraid so."

As the two talked, Buttercup felt a hand on her shoulder. Susan had woken from her induced slumber for a moment, and was looking right into her eyes. She'd reached over, going to hold her hand but she'd seen the massive red swelling that had consumed them and moved her hand to her shoulder instead.

"I heard... what you did... sorry I made you have to do that..." she told the Savlar quietly.

"Um, it's fine...I don't know why I did it anyway... but... I'm glad you're ok..."

…

Late that afternoon, every team member was gathered around the two beds of the injured team-members, along with Commander Dullahan.

"Well, I have to put this simply. You all impressed me beyond anything I could have expected. Despite injury, facing overwhelming firepower and being outnumbered you managed a truly impressive victory. Congratulations, one and all." she said, clapping her hands and smiling at the group, an expression they'd yet to see on her face. A moment later, her clapping stopped, and she continued. "However. Know that your future matches will be much harder now. You've shown your strength and future teams will attempt to over match it where-ever they can. The Tau knew our machines only, and believed that they could win by sheer power of machinery alone, with bigger guns and more tanks but despite this, they still did not bring their all. They could have had much bigger battle suits out there but they saved them, expecting to walk over you. This was a mistake and all of your opponents are now fully aware of that fact."

She paused at this. Then, she turned to Rat team. "You will however, have a much better chance now. Thanks to your lucky find Rat team, your team now has one of the mightiest vehicles in the imperial guard's arsenal at its command! As those who found it, I am promoting Rat team to pilot the Banehammer known, according to what makings we could find, as Wrath! And, on that note, I will come to the issue of repair. Your victory was well worth the cost, but it has left many of your machines badly damaged. From the top of the list down, Wolf team, left sponson destroyed and the bolter with it. Scorpion team, turret multi laser entirely destroyed, turret ring destroyed, upper armour plating severely perforated, inner deck perforated. Your transmission and suspension were also found to have suffered damage. Your machine will need very heavy repairs, which I doubt will be done in time for the next match. You will likely be taking Rat team's Taurox if that is indeed the case. Snake team, no damage, good job! Horse team, frontal armour warped by heat damage, minor overheating damage to the engine but nothing too major overall. Dog team, left track and side armour suffered severe damage, all upper running wheels on the left side destroyed. Main hydraulics unit damaged and currently non-functional. Rat team, front left track unit destroyed, similar overheating damage to Horse team. Recovered Banehammer Wrath, known issues, jammed breach, severe rust and corrosion, severe dirt clogging, cracked barrel, frontal armour damage from the Ion cannon hits. The Mechanicus are giving it a full inspection as we speak and the list of repairs needed will likely be massive but as a priority vehicle, rest assured it will get the very best care they can lavish upon it. Lastly, Sargent, your Sentinel... Well, I'm afraid to say that it might as well be melted down. The upper section has been entirely destroyed and it suffered further internal damage from the fire."

Sarge waved her hand dismissively at this. "It's not the first Sentinel I've piloted Ma'am. I take care of them as best as I can but if the cost for keeping it would be to sacrifice one of my unit, then I will pilot it to its destruction willingly and consider its sacrifice noble."

"I agree. However, I hope you will not make a habit of destroying them, we don't have a infinite number of replacements after all. Now, we will carry out repairs throughout the next two weeks before your next match. But, it is clear that as your machines are, you will not beat your next opponents-who, incidentally, will be the Eldar team. The Eldar are a powerful foe and very skilled. They will not make the mistakes of the Tau, and their technology is millennia ahead of our own. They are not invulnerable, far from it in fact but you will need far more firepower to stand any real chance of victory and your skills will need to be sharpened as much as possible. Thus, in mind of this and your victory today, headquarters are prepared to send you some upgrades and some replacement vehicles, which will be arriving within a few days. You will assist the Mechanicus in fitting these upgrades and train to use them, alongside your usual drills. For now however, I shall leave the rest of the evening to you all to use as you see fit. Go and enjoy yourselves-you have earned it."

…

"So, what do you all want to do this evening?" Nanta asked the rest of her team.

"We want to head to Agarn's shrine. Me and sis have some stuff to do there." Sally said, her sister nodding at this.

"I'd like to go get a drink somewhere. Mell, you game?" Kelly asked her.

"S-sure, why n-not?"

"Well, guess its you and me again Tori, aha..."

"Oh no, what a nightmare! I kid, sounds fine by me. What did you want to do?"

"Ah, I dunno. I was going to go see if I could find out what they're sending us for our tank."

"Already? They're only a few days off, c'mon, let's go do something fun! Let's go find out what the others are up to. See you all tomorrow!" Tori called cheerfully, waving to the other group members and dragging Nanta off by the arm.

"Guess I'm going too, ah, sorry! I'll see you later too then!" Nanta called back, helpless against Tori's insistent grip.

"Heh, really girl? I know you were looking forward to getting in a tank but you have to leave it occasionally you know?"

"Ah c'mon! You're not curious as to what they're going to send us?"  
"Well, a little but we'll find out soon anyway so it's fine. Besides, I'm more concerned with the Catachan team. They're pretty tough but it looked like that match rattled them really badly..."

Tori continued her train of thought as they passed around Ruin, which despite a fresh coat of dust and leaves from the days match still shone brilliantly.

"Hey! Hello down there!" came a rough, awkward sounding voice from above. Kaise was waving at them from the basilisk's roof, where she was sitting beside Nairone and Baal.

"Oh, hi there! We haven't really had much of a chance to properly introduce each other have we? I'm Nanta, and this is Tori!"

"Hi!" Tori called.  
"Nice to meet you. Come on up, it's nice up here." Kaise offered as Nairone translated Wolf team's words onto a screen for her. The two climbed the ladder on the side of the Basilisk and sat down next to the three.

"I'm Kaise! I'm supposed to be our commander but really, Baal over here fills that role. I just drive Ruin really. Baal is our loader, and Nairone here is our gunner. She can't talk so please don't be offended if she doesn't say anything. She'll type it though if she's got something to say."

"You're our commander right Nanta? I know this might sound weird, but mind if I touch your face? Since I can't actually see you, it helps me get an idea of who I'm talking to, and get an idea about what they're like. I think it's important that the one in charge of us all is someone we can trust, and I'd just like to confirm that." Baal asked.

"Uhh, sure I guess? I'll just shift over so you can reach... right, go ahead!"

Ball extended one arm, and almost immediately, managed to put one hand on Nanta's chest.

"Oh, sorry! I never know how far up to go first time... can't see how tall you are... Ok, that's more like it..." she said, raising a hand to Nanta's cheek, gently running it over the surface of her face.

"Ah, this is kind of weird..."

"It's fine. I think I've got a pretty good idea now. Sorry we couldn't be of more help in the match. We never even got properly set up..."

"It's not your fault that you have to stay so far back from the fight for the most part. Your machine isn't built for that sort of direct combat. Besides, you actually saved us twice in that match! If anything, we did the least for our size. We got the winning blow but..."

"But it was pretty much down to luck really." Tori finished for her. "If the Banehammer hadn't shown up when it had, we'd have lost that match."

The silent member of Snake team, Nairone tapped Nanta on the shoulder, and held up the vox screen. On it, the words "No need to be so hard on yourself" were displayed. She turned the screen back to herself and continued typing at an incredible pace, then turned it back to Nanta. "It was only our first match after all".

"R-right! I hadn't thought of it like that... Um, if you don't mind me asking, why did you three join the guard? Wouldn't your disabilities have been enough to exempt you?" Nanta asked the three, curiosity overwhelming her. There was a short pause as Nairone typed out the message, then showed it to Kaise.

"Ah, me? My dad used to be in it. I'd heard his stories, they were always so cool, so heroic and it seemed like it could be fun! Plus, I'd heard that even deaf people can get in on artillery duty, and well, it looks like that's right! And after... after he died, I didn't have any other options so I guess it just worked out..."

"Ah, I see... How about you Baal?"

"Oh, me? I ah... Well, I tried to get into the Snow Reapers-you know, the local space marines?"  
"Yeah, my Sister attempted initiation ten years ago when I was really young, I've still no idea what happened to her..."

"Well, since I was named after the home world of another chapter of space marines, it only made sense to me to give it a go. I tried to get in that same year. I'd heard all those stories, that they took girls now too because the Emperor finally worked out how to make the transformation work for women too. They only hold the initiation every fifty years, I wasn't going to get another shot and it sounded incredible... But I was too young. The first part of the trials is a two-hundred mile trek through the arctic forest they call Life's End, not to mention the fifty mile journey across the ice lakes from the nearest inhabited area. I wasn't at all prepared for it. Even worse, a blizzard tore through on the day I set off. It's thanks to that I was rescued at all but it cost me. I was out on the plains for too long without glasses and well..." she trailed off. The sad expression in her faded white eyes said it all. "Still, I'm alive. No-one else came back from that blizzard, only moved on, or froze out there. One of Nairone's relatives saw me when out there for work, and brought me back. I ended up living with them until they moved to the hive."

"That explains how you met anyway. How about you Nairone?"

She tapped away for a moment, then flipped the tablet. It simply read "Family issues."

"Complicated?" Nanta asked, and Nairone nodded with a strange look on her face.

"Something like that..." Baal said.

...

Kelly and Mell had found themselves in a bar known as the Leaky Conduit. It was specifically for the Guard and members of all ages and sizes gathered around the various tables, singing, talking, drinking and getting very, very drunk. The two got a cheer as they walked in, with one of the drunker patrons calling out "Good work you two! Drinks on me-" before toppling over unconscious, his friend laughing raucously. However, a more familiar voice called them.

"Oi Oi! You two's! C'mon over, we'll actually get ya sommin!" the voice of Daisy called, audible even over the crowd. The two headed over, sitting with the three Savlar who all had drinks of their own already.

"Hello you three! You had the same idea as me eh?" Kelly asked as she looked at the three. They were out of their uniforms, instead wearing a very chaotic assortment of bright clothing, and in Buttercup's case, two oven-glove like bandages on her forearms and hands.

"Yous two are from Wolf team right? Thanks for winnin' us the match today! Things was looking a little shaky for a moment!" Tulip told the two. "What's ya name? We's never really met proper."

"I'm Kelly, and this is Mell!"

"P-pleased to p-properly meet you!" Mell said, taking the enthusiastic hand Daisy offered and shaking.

"I got's to admit, I weren' expecting tanking to be quite like that! I thought 'twas all rumbling around and shooting at range." Buttercup told the two, Tulip holding her drink for her as she took a sip from the curly straw stuck in it.

"Well, for the Tau it should've been. They'd have engaged us at long range, they're much better suited for it. They were at a big disadvantage in that forest."

"Eh? Say what?"

"Ah, sorry! I've been going over the events of that battle in my head all day. We got really lucky when I think about it. How was it for you three? Heck, what did you do to injure your arms like that?" Kelly asked, taking another swig of her beer.

"Me? I had to hol' up the barrel on our Hellhound when that one with the big gun hit us."

Mell almost spat her drink across the room. "You're k-kidding! T-that inferno cannon gets hot enough to melt s-steel! W-why would you even c-consider that?"

"Ah, them silly folks over in Scorpion team was in a state o' bother, couldn' jus' leave 'em could we? We had ta' win the match af'er all!" Tulip responded. Buttercup nodded, but didn't say anything, looking a little awkward. For a moment, she was silent, then she suddenly seemed to make up her mind about something.

"Well, there was that... an' well... They accused us o' stealin' earlier that day. We barely know 'em an' yet they was already judgin' us. Sure, we've stole' ton's o' stuff, but we wouldn' do it ta anyone who didn' deserve it." Buttercup told the two, looking sheepish. Daisy then also spoke up a moment later.

"Yeah, we's got a rep ta' keep up eh? We ain' the sort ta steal from our mates or leave 'em ta get shot by xenos!" she said cheerfully. Buttercup's expression still seemed awkward, but she smiled and nodded at her words. "Anyways, they was sayin' we'll be scrappin' wit' Eldar next eh? You's seems ta' be smart, know what're they like? Gonna be an easier match than them fishy freaks?"

…

Meanwhile, Sally and Anne had made their way to Agarn's shrine, a relatively quiet building tucked away in the back alleys of the Hive. About the size of a church, it was said to have been built on the spot where the saint spent his last hours before the final battle. To the two however, it had a more personal significance. On the way, the two stopped at a store, and emerged with a bunch of paper flowers. Real ones weren't something a guardsman could afford, only even being sold on the upper levels on the hive but they'd have to do. The two did not enter the church but instead headed around behind it to one of many metal graves. The tiny marker plate, which was hard to even find amongst the hundreds like it was engraved with the single word 'Serena'.

"Hey mum..." Sally said quietly, laying the bunch of flowers in front of it. "It's been a little while huh? Sorry we haven't been able to visit for so long..."

"We're doing alright though, looking after ourselves. We made it into the guard, just like you always said we would! We're tankers!" Anne followed, head bowed and looking down on the plate.

"We'll make you proud, I promise! We're going to be the best tankers you'll ever see!" Sally finished.

"Oh, you two... You are members of Wolf team, correct?" came a mechanical voice from nearby. Turning, the two found themselves facing Starsaky, Catch and their other priest.

"Ah! You startled me! You're... what was it?" Anne answered, jumping at their sudden appearance.

"Horse Team, right? And yeah, we're on Wolf team-I'm Sally, and this is my twin sis Anne."

"I am Junior Techpreist Starsaky, this is Junior Techpreist Catch and Junior Techpriest -incomprehensible computer noises-"

"I see... What are you three doing here, if you don't mind me asking?" Sally asked, curious as to their sudden appearance.

"We work here actually, though we only do so once a month. We maintain the grave-plates." Starsaky explained. As she did, Catch moved over to a very worn, rusted plate, a mechanical tendril tipped with a drill extended. The drill whirred up to speed and she began to re-engrave the name on the plate while the other tech priest took a tendril with a buffing wheel onto another, polishing off the blue-green corrosion.

"Grave space is limited and expensive. Anyone who received one clearly has, or had someone that cared greatly about them." Catch added, moving onto the next plate. "Ah, I see now why you two were here. You have done an admiral job of maintaining that plate."

Anne looked a little downcast at her words.

"Actually it's not that old yet... she only died a year back. It's why we entered the guard in the end-we wanted to anyway but after that, we had no choice... we had to sell the hab-unit for that plate..."  
"I... I see. I will make a note to keep that plate clean. No charge."

"R-really?"

"We members of the Mechanicus are duty bound to maintain the war machines of the Imperium. In a way, that includes the crew of said machines too. We-"

But what Catch had meant to say next was suddenly cut off with the arrival of three figures. Starsaky was the tallest of any of the young guards women (aside from Crunch) but the three approaching figures were even taller than her by about a foot. They were built thin for their height, with sharp features and pointed ears. Their armour was bright yellow, highlighted in some areas with blue, and was far sleeker in appearance than the bulky tankers jackets and Techpreist robes of Wolf and Horse team.

"Well, well. So this is how the Mon-keigh honour their dead. With cheap steel and a hole in the ground! I had not expected much, but this is abysmal." their leader said. She, like the two others looked young despite her height, perhaps only twenty by human standards, though her voice suggested someone older.

"I mean, they'll never work out spirit stones, they're not bright enough for that but come on, fourty-thousand years and they're barely beyond stone!" another added, voice practically dripping with venom.

"And look at what they use for maintenance! So crude! I mean those are some UGLY augmentations!" the third added, laughing at the appearance of Horse team.

"You three must be on the Eldar Team." Starsaky responded bluntly. It was hard to tell through her voice box, but Sally felt she could feel the coldness nonetheless.  
"Oh! It speaks!" the apparent leader responded, a note of mock surprise in her voice. "Can it do tricks too?"

"Ah, look at this Ynsil! These flowers are PAPER! They're not even real!"

The two others burst out laughing, apparently greatly amused. Sally was visibly fuming now, but Anne had tears welling in her eyes as she spoke.

"Oh-oh yeah? You try maintaining a grave on a guardsmen's budget!" she called, trying to sound angry but her voice had cracked as she spoke.

"My word, Q'ueseen, I think the Mon-keigh is going to cry!" the leader said in-between her laughter as Anne fought to keep her eyes clear-but it wasn't working.

"Take that back." Sally suddenly spoke.

"What?"  
"I said. Take. That. Back. Did you not hear, or are those pointy ears just for show?"

"My my, such fire. Still, I'm not sure what your intend to do. I mean, it'd be so easy to knock one of these over..." she said. As she had, before any of the others could intervene, one of the three had kicked up a old stone fragment like a football. It arced gracefully over, and clanked off the direct centre of Serena's plate, bending one corner and leaving a large scratch.

"You little-!" Sally yelled, lunging at her but Ynsil had started to dodge even before Sally had moved! Anne, tears now streaming from her eyes moved to help but somehow, despite being behind her and out of line of sight, the Eldar ducked and with remarkable grace threw Anne over her shoulder with something resembling a judo throw!

"Well, I think this bodes well for our upcoming match if this is the best you can do!" she laughed as she dodged another angry assault from Sally in such a way as to cause her to fall over the gasping form of her sister who was still on the ground. "Perhaps we should give you two a little something to remember us by, show your team mates why they should fear us..." she mused, drawing a thin, curved, bone-like sword.

She raised it a little-but before she could swing, there was a burst of Bhinaric and the third techpreist moved in a blur! As the eldar's blade swung down, another blade swung out to meet it, the two clashing with a thud and a crunch of splintering bone! It wasn't that that surprised the twins-it was the appearance of it's wielder. The priest was, now she was missing most of her robe which had been shredded, almost entirely robotic! Her legs were entirely mechanical just below the waist, made of pistons tipped with almost hoof like feet tipped with spikes. All of her torso was covered by segmented metal plate and her arms were pistons similar to her legs. A mechanical tendril, much longer and more heavily built than those of the other priests had uncurled from a compartment inside her back, tipped by a large sword blade. Unlike the Eldar's, it had perfectly straight edges and lacked any kind of tip. Her hands were tipped with metal claws that were visibly sharpened. Strangely though, her face was entirely human aside from the vox grill where her mouth and chin should have been, sharing non of the other various mechanical replacements of the other two, and she even had long black hair that went down to her waist. The Eldar was looking surprised, clearly taken aback.

"Not a Mon-keigh at all then, practically just an attack servitor in the guise of one of you? Well, it has been a while since I've practised my swordplay, but I can't see this one lasting long..." she added, stepping back and raising her blade, now with a large nick in it where the two had met to point it at the priest. She did the same, lifting the blade in a different stance to the Eldar and leaning forward, readying herself to strike. A high pitched whine began to emanate from the blade, which started to glow faintly blue and seeming to shimmer slightly.

"Now it is active, her Transonic blade will cut through even your Wraithbone with ease. I recommend you apologise for your actions." Starsaky stated, lowering her hands to help the twins up.

"We shall see!" Q'ueseen called, then lunged forward! The two blades clashed for barely a second-but then, a booming yet somehow chilling voice caused both figures to freeze.

"Alright, break it up!"

The two froze, almost instantly. The preist's blade was buried in the Eldars, almost to the point of cutting clean through. The figure who'd interrupted them was massive, over seven feet tall and over five times the width of the eldar. He was wearing blue and white power armour with a helmet that hid his face and a symbol depicting a reaper's scythe cutting through an icicle on it's massive left shoulder pauldron. Not only did the armour's colouration seem to look like ice, but an aura of cold seemed to emanate from the armour, frost forming on the ground around his feet and ice around the exhausts of the backpack-like reactor attached to the suit. A massive stalker bolt rifle hung at his side, alongside a cluster of grenades.

"A Primaris marine..." Catch muttered quietly under her breath. Sally and Anne abandoned their attempts to stand and instead switched into a kneeling position, heads lowered and not daring to look at the figure.

"I believe both of you are already scheduled to fight in the next match. It would be unbecoming of an imperial citizen to try to cheat by fighting early would it not? As for you Xenos (The distaste in his voice was clear as he said the word), you are here as a guest of the Imperium, no matter how much relations between our races have improved. Kill an imperial citizen and I alongside the rest of my chapter will hunt you down in person. Do I make myself clear?"

"As ice." the eldar replied contemptuously.

"Good. I will wish you luck, young guards-women." he finished, before turning about and walking off, surprisingly fast for his large size. The Eldar too turned to leave, with their leader pausing for a moment before they did.

"He's right. We will continue this duel later. You will not be victorious next time." she told the priest without looking at her. And, without another word, the three headed off into the hive.

(Authors note: Sorry for the delay on this chapter folks! Real life and, unfortunately, work has had me pretty busy recently and I was a little unsure how exactly this chapter was gonna go for a while so this one's taken a lot longer to write. With a little luck, future chapters won't take quite as long to complete. Also, I'm adding Authors notes now! These will let me explain any bits that aren't clear, clarify things I got wrong, respond to questions ect, ect, you get the idea. For the first one, likely of many, I realised I got the Trojan mixed up with the Atlas Recovery Vehicle when it came to weapons load out - the Atlas has a single heavy stubber as it's only weapon while the Trojan is in fact, supposed to have a Heavy bolter on the front, a much more powerful weapon. For the sake of consistency, we will assume that the Heavy bolter Horse team's Trojan should have is missing, with only a heavy stubber to fill the gap where it should sit. Also, the third un-named techpriest is modelled on a Sicarian Ruststalker, using one of their swords though is not part of their order.)


	7. Preparations

Girls Und Warhammer 40kChapter 7: Preparations

"Whoa! Is that all for us?" Nanta exclaimed, looking at the list she had been handed.

"AFFIRMATIVE." the delivery Servitor told her as various vehicles unloaded masses of supplies from the bulk lander that had arrived that morning. Freshly constructed tanks rolled up the ramps past the other machines exiting from the colossal transport ship to be shipped out to distant war zones. A transporter lorry with two trailers attached was idling in front of her. On its first trailer, numerous pieces of tank equipment were strapped down, including entire turrets, pieces of armour of every shape and size, and the entirety of a gigantic gun that Nanta could only assume was for the Banehammer. Behind these items on the second trailer were three vehicles. At the front was a Sentinel, with slightly more armour than Sarge's. It was sporting an auto cannon rather than a flamer and a missile launching rail in addition to it's chainsaw. After this was a Taurox, though it had a missile rack on the roof and lacked the autocannons of their old machine, a pair of Hot-Shot volley guns taking their place. And, lastly, a Leman Russ, though this one was different to Wolf Team's. It was longer, with a pair of trench crossing blades on it's rear. Air ventilation equipment was also visible on this rear section and the Demolisher cannon on the turret was short and stubby compared to their Battle cannon. Scratches, craters, cracks and scorch marks littered the surface of it's black paint. Despite this, its brass fittings and insignia had clearly been recently polished, shining like new in the morning sun.

"Ok, I think that's everything, you can head on to the base now. Just up that way, can't miss it." she told the driver, who nodded and headed out toward the hangars.

"So, anything nice for us?" Tori asked her.

"Well, there's a shiny set of plasma sponsons that couldn't be for the other tanks so that's one heck of an upgrade from the bolters when it comes to tank battles! I think that's the only bit we're getting though."

"Ah, cool! Still, I wonder who that one's for..." she responded, looking at the battered Russ. "I mean, unless someone's getting their whole tank replaced and Dullahan didn't say anything about that."

"I suppose that could be it... Anyway, we'd better head back. I wonder if Rat team ever worked out what was going on with the missing deserts? I know they were supposed to be looking into that."

"There WAS a hole here right? I'm not losing it am I?" Midge found herself asking the rest of Rat team. Unable to start any training while both their machines were under repair, they'd begun their investigation into the missing pudding rations.

"No, I saw it too. A great big hole, and smashed packets everywhere! It's all gone!" Bluebottle responded, lifting the various ration boxes to see if the mess had somehow moved.

"OTHERS?" Crunch asked, proceeding to lift the entire shelving unit that Bluebottle had been attempting to un-stack.

"Shouldn't have been. We didn't have time to report it to anyone with the match and it's our unit's rations, no-one else has the keys!" Cathrine responded as she lifted the edge of a loose tile, only finding a small beetle.

"Well, I guess this is a bit of a dead end. Let's ask the other regiments, see if they know anything." Kelsie suggested, giving up on trying to shift a massive crate almost as large as herself.

A little while later, they'd arrived at the main barracks complex. It was enormous compared to their own since it had to house a comparatively massive proportion of the footsoldiers of the local regiment. It was also considerably more cramped than their own barracks. Theirs had wide, usually quiet paths that allowed their tanks to easily enter and leave, but the paths around the area were heavily packed with troopers. Nearly all were wearing combat gear, which consisted mostly of a light flak jacket, a helmet and a chest plate, much less heavy than the tanker's heavy flak jackets and carapace plate that covered their arms and legs as well. It was the first time they'd realised that their more important roles had come with perks as well.

"Hey, you lot, what are you doing here?" one of the troopers asked, stopping their advance.

"Um, we're here to talk to whoever manages your ration supplies." Midge replied cautiously. Something about the expression on the soldiers face was worrying her slightly.

"Hmm, are you? I suppose the big one's getting a bit hungry eh? Ran out of rations abhuman?"

This was not the first time Midge had heard that, nor was it the first time any of their number had heard something similar. Ignoring his tone, she continued "Look, do you know where they are or not?"

"Main office. Over there. Keep your mitts of our supplies though, you hear me?"

"Yeah yeah. C'mon, let's go." Midge finished, heading off towards the tower on the end of the barracks. Crunch however, didn't move.

"BIG... ONE... ME?"

"Who d'ya think I'm talking about? You're eight feet tall and six foot wide! You probably eat as much in a day as any of us do in a week!"

Crunch, for a moment, didn't respond. Then, she said slowly, and a bit more quietly than she had before. "WORDS... HURT..." and, at that, set off at a stomping jog to catch up to the others, causing other guardsmen to scatter or dash to the side to avoid being crashed into.

"Rations eh? Well, come in. Um, you won't fit though. Sorry ma'am but you'll have to wait outside." the guardswoman at the door told Crunch apologetically.

"THAT... OK... I... HAVE... LOT... TO... THINK... ABOUT..."

"Um, sure, if you say so. Anyway, take the left at the end of the corridor then the second door on the right. Can't miss it even if you are as dense as most of the people here, it's got a big old sign on it."

The seven remaining members who could actually fit did so, and soon found themselves in the office.

"You're with Dullahan's unit right? Fine commander that one, helped me out of a few tricky spots back when I was just an lieutenant. Well, go ahead, what do you want to ask?"

"Well, we were wondering if you knew if anyone had made any repairs or done any cleaning work in our supply room?"

"Eh? What on Terra would make you think we'd have done that?"

"Well, we'd had a break-in, just before our match the other day. There was a pretty big hole, and someone had smashed or stolen all our desert rations! Thing is, when we checked earlier, there was no sign of any of it, and none of us had a chance to look into it until today."

"A break in... that someone cleaned up without anyone knowing anything about, that resulted in all the desert rations going missing? Well... Normally, I'd be reporting you to your superiors frankly. It sounds exactly like something the one's who'd stolen them in the first place would say. Except that I've heard the same story from every one of my own units, and even the officers have had the exact thing happen. In fact, I want to thank you for reporting this to me-we hadn't heard anything about a disappearing hole before. We're already looking into it, and will make sure that we let your unit know once we've found the culprit. I have to ask however-are there any members of your unit who'd be likely suspects?"

The members of Rat team found themselves looking at each other-all knowing exactly what the others were thinking.

"Dog Team." they all said, almost in unison.

"Dog Team?"  
"Our three Savlar." Jade explained to the commander.

"Say no more. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I'd suggest you get going, I've got to deal with the damned Eldar visitors. For the love of the Emperor, crush them into the dust for us, please, I can't stand having to be polite to them any longer!"

"Heeeey! You three! I want's a word wit' ya!" came the voice of Chimney. Dog team were, in fact, looking for her but hadn't set off towards the market yet. Looking around for the source of her voice, Tulip was the one to see her first. Her face was just visible from a drain cover down one of the barracks small alleys, and she was clearly trying and failing to lift it.

"Heya Chimney. Give us a sec, the covers round 'ere ain' like the ones down the market, we'll give you an 'and eh?" she said. The three moved over and quickly undid the mechanism, then helped pull her up.

"Right, Tulip, I got's sommin' to says to you!" she told her, refusing to let go of her arm and pushing her back against the alley wall.

"C-Chimney what-"

"Blue only went and had a go at me! Remember what I said?"

"Chimney, wait, I didn't think she'd-wait, what did she do?"

"She went for me just like 'dis!" Chimney told her, moving towards Tulip who shut her eyes, expecting a painful blow-but instead, she felt Chimney plant a kiss on her cheek!

"I-Ehhh?!" Tulip exclaimed, face turning bright red.

"It went great! Thank ye girl, you's picked a real diamond this time!"

"I-I did?"

"Yeah! She was a little tired from your tank thingy earlier, so we spent most of the night just watching a few old vox-pict films, but she's a real nice girl for a commie. I wouldn'a even known if she weren' wearing tha' hat and all that! Anyways, she's said she's wantin' ta meet again some time soon! I owe yous three big time!"

"Aww, no problem girl, you know's we already owe's ya more than our share." Tulip responded, relaxing slightly with an audible sigh.

"If this 'ole deal wit' Blue keeps up, it'll be worth a fair bit more'n the scraps yous three owe! In fact, I gots ya some more info on tanks if ya be wantin' it, free o' charge since I'm in such a good mood!"

"Free? From you? O' course, that's a rare occasion comin' from you's, what've ya found?" Daisy responded.

"Welp, you's remember tha' we foun' your tank from the smell o' burnin' promethium?"

"Ugh, don' remind me of tha' smell. I's not exactly a fan ya knows?" Buttercup answered, shuddering a little. Her hands were still fully bandaged and despite the painkillers she'd been given, were still sore all over.

"Ah, sorry bout's that. Ah, anyway, I heard the smell ain' stoppin' even though you's already lifted Markov's, ah, what was it, Hellhound?. It's faint, but it's still comin' up from the deep underhive."

"Sure it ain' just some burst pipe Chimney?"

"I was thinkin' the same thing but there ain' no smoke. If it were a burst pipe, there'd be a pretty big fire by now right? It might just be some gang usin' flamers but seems unlikely wit' all the flamables down there eh? Plus a few people 'ave said they's heard engine noises too, real loud ones."

"Yer probably right. We'll go take a look, but it'll be waitin' till tomorrow, you said the deep hive right?"

"Yeah, ah, that's the problem. It's right in the middle o' cult country."

"Ack. Shoulda' know there'd be a catch. Alright Chimney, which one is it?"

"That's the worst bit. It's sector sixteen-theta and it ain' slanesh like most o' the others. That's dead territory." Chimney told them gravely. The four all looked concerned. 'Dead Territory' was local Underhive slang for an area that people didn't return from. Gas leaks, malfunctioning servitors, severely mutated abhumans, Xenos beasts, chaos and worse were all amongst the rumours for exactly why. Some even believed that the psychic residue from the fears and suffering of those billions living in the hive above coalesced into physical form down there, but those people were the sort that drank the water without filtering the chemical sludge out of it so few actually listened to them. Not that people actually discounted the idea. Weirder things had happened.

"Right. Well, dunno about you two but I don' be thinkin' this one be worth it." Daisy told the others in a tone that was clearly hoping they'd agree.

"Yeah, I was thinkin' the same, I mean it's not like they's short on tanks at the moment right?" Tulip responded, clearly on the same wavelength.

"Thanks anyways Chimney, we'll be keepin' it in mind but unless our Hellhound goes and breaks, we's good for now." Buttercup finished, looking relived.  
"No problem, frankly I don' be blamin' yous on that one. I'll be keepin' an eye out for sommin' a bit easier to get at. Got a plan for yer next match?"

"Yeah, I's been workin' on sommin' special for the Inhalers, sommin' ta keep us focused." Tulip told her enthusiastically.

"Focused? I though' the whole point o' those was ta keep ya's out of it?"

"Normally yeah, but in our practise match it jus' made us sloppy. We wanna help win this so we gots to be on top form eh?"

"Ah, right... Good luck with that..."

"ALRIGHT ALL YOU LOT, GATHER ROUND!" Dullahan's voice boomed over the general babble. "Your new equipment has arrived, and you still have ten days before your match to learn how to use it. You're going to be drilling every waking moment to get to know how to use it! And, you're gonna need more than that! You're going to have to learn how to outmanoeuvre and out-plan even the Eldar! Firstly though, to take stock of your repairs and equipment! Wolf Team first, you've got new sponsons, Twin plasma cannons! Your engine has also been upgraded to provide power to them and get you moving faster, can't have you being as slow as last time against the Eldar, they're usually extremely fast and you'll all need to be able to at least keep up. These should provide considerably more firepower than those bolters but you two, Sally, Anne, you'll be undergoing a little extra training to learn how to use them without blowing them up!"

"Yes Ma'am. Thank you commander!" Nanta responded with a salute.

"Scorpion team, your chimera is currently being repaired and upgraded with an autocannon turret but it's not going to be ready for some time. So, in the mean time, you will indeed be using Rat team's Taurox. Since you lack firepower options, as you're technically over crewed for what firepower you have, I've secured a few anti-tank heavy weapons for you. A Meltagun, a portable Lascannon and a heavy bolter. Feel free to use them as you see fit. I understand that Susan is recovering quickly and should be fit to drive on the day, but just in case, I want you to nominate a crew member for driving drills as backup."

"Will do Ma'am." Kant answered, also saluting.

"Snake team, no change to your vehicle. Keep up your drills, you're making decent progress. I'm going to ensure part of your schedule includes rapid deployment training, you may have made up for not getting setup in the last match with those direct shots but that's not how you're supposed to fight and if you're caught by eldar out in the open, you're going to be in real trouble. Horse team. I understand you've completed repairs on your machine personally, good initiative. However, I must admit I'm not impressed by the machine itself. Unlike on a campaign, in these matches it seems unlikely that one of our machines will take enough damage to need repair but not simply be knocked out, preventing us from using it even if we can fix it in the field. I may have no influence over the Mechanicus but I did manage to pull a few strings to get you this Taurox Prime. I believe there were complaints about an unruly machine spirit that was causing them too many problems to use it reliably. I understand it was passed from the Tempestus that it was intended for down to the 114th but they too were unable to get it to work reliably for them. I hope you are up to the challenge."  
"Thank you Commander Dullahan. We will do what we can to tame or calm it's spirit." Starsaky replied.

"Now, Dog Team. Your tracks and hydraulics have been repaired, it's back to full working order. We're also switching out your flamers for melta's, technically re-classifying your machine as a Devil Dog. You'll find your range reduced even further but your power increased-there is little your melta will not be able to destroy, even heavy armour will melt before it. Your drills will focus both on getting used to the differences and your manoeuvring, you'll want to get in range and then out the way as quickly as possible. Although, I have heard some unusual information related to your team and Desert rations? I'm not exactly certain what's going on there or if I believe half of what I've heard but keep yourselves in line just in case there's something to it."

"Uh, yes Ma'am?" Daisy said, thoroughly unaware as to what was going on. They couldn't seen the suspicious looks given to them from Rat team, but Mell and Kelly did, giving each other shared looks of confusion.

"Sargent, your sentinel replacement arrived as planned. It's an armoured one rather than your old scout, equipped with an Auto cannon, a chainsaw and one-shot hunter-killer missile. I can see your skills haven't waned at all despite the years off the battlefield, so I will leave you to decide how best to prepare for the match. Lastly, Rat Team. I am assured Wrath will be ready for battle by the deadline, it is getting full attention by the top mechanics of the local Mechanicus. You'll be unable to do more than read the manual for it until repairs are complete, so study up! For your in-vehicle drills, you may use the Trojan."

"Ma'am, I have a question, there was another machine on our shipment-"

"The other Russ? Yes, I knew you'd ask on that one. That Russ is my own actually. No, I'm not helping you in the fight, I'm not allowed as I'm not technically part of your unit. However, I'll be using it to help train you in formation movement. You're going to want to travel in pairs, if not trios against the Eldar."

Their training over the next few days was exhausting. Dullahan drilled them relentlessly, making them move in groups as fast as possible, often leading them herself in her own Russ, which was notably faster than Wolf team's. As they encountered the other groups of their fellow team-mates, she'd often order them to swap a member or re-order their formations, causing more than a few crashes as they struggled to re-organise.

"Rat Team, if you're struggling to keep that Trojan in formation you might as well not be there! I dread to think what you'll do if you drive your Banehammer like that! You wanna crush one of your team-mates?! Regardless, that's actually practise over for the day. You're all improving but it's slow. It'll be pretty similar tomorrow, so rest up. Another long day lies ahead of you all and I expect you all to keep improving if you don't want me to disable the barracks heating system!"

"Ugh, I can't believe how long that last exercise ran on for..." Tori groaned, trying to rub a sore spot on her back.

"I know, I thought it'd never end. Here, I'll get that." Nanta responded, moving behind her to massage Tori's shoulders.

"Ah-aaaah, that's it, just there..."

"Enjoying yourself? Anyway. I know it might just be something we need to practise for but if the Eldar are as good as we've heard, I'm not sure we'll win it just by skill."

"Yeah, we - up a bit – ahhhhh, so good, thanks! – uh, we could do with an edge of some kind eh?" Tori mused, looking thoughtful.

"W-well, I was g-going down into town this evening, m-maybe I can see if I c-can find something we could use maybe?" Mell suggested, removing the heavier armour plates from her jacket.

"Need a hand? I know a few equipment stores that you could try. Mind you, what are we even allowed to bring?" Kelly added. She wasn't bothering to change like the others but had stuck her head in the showers and was currently going at it with a towel.

"I... I don't know actually. If you're gonna go out to town, me and Tori can maybe go find out. There must be something we can do to improve our chances right?"

"Well, that was a total bust."  
"I k-know, I t-thought they'd have had s-something special we could use..."

Kelly and Mell were fairly downtrodden as they returned along the darkening streets. They'd found plenty of items that could be useful but nothing that wasn't already covered by the kit already strapped to their tanks.

"M-Maybe we're g-going about this wrong, p-perhaps we could change our t-tactics?"

"I dunno, I mean Dullahan's meant to be some kind of ace right? She's probably right that we need to work on formations but..."

"B-but you're not sure?"

"Yeah. I think she's teaching us formation movement so that the Eldar can't split us up with hit and run attacks. To cover our weaknesses right?"

"Ok, s-so what's the problem?"

"They're supposed to be smart so they'll know that right? They'll have some way around it, something to break up our formations or take advantage of them somehow. I dunno, she's probably right but it feels like we're walking into a trap somehow..."

"I see what you m-mean, b-but what can we d-do?"

"What we're already doing. We need a secret weapon, something they won't see coming-hey, what's going on over there?"

Three figures were moving in the distance. They could hear yelling, someone crying out-and the writhing figure of a fouth person on the ground by them.

"Hey! W-what's going on?!" Mell yelled at the figures. They stopped, and turned. Now they could see them a little better, they could see that they were all armed, one with a plank of wood, one with very crude looking knuckledusters and one with what looked like a power fist, though it didn't appear to be working. Then, the figures suddenly charged! Kelly managed to sidestep the swinging plank but took a blow in the side from the knuckleduster armed man! Wheezing, she stumbled to one side then fell over the other figure on the ground! Mell was fairing a little better-her small size, compared with her training let her get in a few decent blows against the figure holding a plank, winding him with a couple of blows to the chest. However, the power fist wielding figure hit her square in the back. Had it been working, the power fist would have smashed clean through her but even so it was still enough to cause her to fall to the ground with a cry of pain. For a few painful moments, the figures laid into them, landing painful blow after blow against the two.

Then, the area seemed to light up. Both Kelly and Mell suddenly noticed that despite the fact the beating continued, they couldn't actually feel it. What they could feel though was rage. Welling up inside them with a burning sensation, it was as if their chests had had a fire lit inside them! With little warning and a surge of strength, the two suddenly leapt to their feet, pushing the figures back! With a roar of rage, Kelly lunged forward, knocking the power fist wielding man to the floor and wailing on him with her fists, not noticing or caring even when he managed to land another couple of blows against her! She was hitting much harder than she should have been able too as well, one of her hits breaking the man's nose and spraying both with blood! Mell had gone into something like a berserk fury and had wrenched the wooden beam from the other thug's hands. She was now proceeding to beat him around the head with said plank, screaming obscenities as she did so, fully red in the face. However, the final figure had drawn a laspistol, and was trying to get a clean shot at the figures thrashing around on the ground. For a moment, he had a clear shot that would have been it for Mell-but he never got that far. There was a flash of light from the grounded figure, and with a bolt of lighting and a bang the man was sent flying backwards! It seemed this was the last straw for the thugs and with a scramble, they managed to kick off the raging guardswomen and made a run for it, only pausing to grab the arms of their downed companion and drag him off.

"Th-thanks, I was in real trouble there!" the third figure told the two. They heard, but were momentarily distracted. The rage had worn off as quickly as it came-and as it went, the pain from every blow they should have felt suddenly returned all at once! The two were temporarily paralysed by pain, but it quickly passed, as fast as it had came.

"N-no p-problem-agh!" Mell answered a moment later, wincing at the pain in her back.

"Yeah-ngrr-happy to help..." Kelly added, sore practically all over. Then, the two looked at the figure they'd saved-and, with a squeak of terror, pain and exhaustion, Mell passed out on the very spot. The figure was small, shorter even than Mell herself, wearing plain, dark green robes stained brown with mud and dust. She had short, curly ginger hair and wore a large, gold necklace in the shape of an eye. However, the reason for Mell's unconsciousness was clear-the figure had no eyes at all, just dark, hollow sockets, filled with quickly fading light blue fire.

"Whoa!" Kelly exclaimed, back-peddling a few feet.  
"No no, it's ok! Hang on... where did..." the figure responded, searching the ground around her. Seemingly finding what she'd been looking for, she snatched up a grubby rag off the ground, before swiftly wrapping it around her eyes like a blindfold. "Sorry about that, I know that tends to scare people! I had this on but those three threw it off... Oh, is your friend ok?"

"Y-yeah, I think... I think you startled her pretty badly..."

"Sorry about that, I've been known to do that... You know what they say after all, stare to long into the warp and it stares back into you - and then it burns your eyes out!" she said, far too cheerfully Kelly felt.

"Warp?"

"Well yeah silly, why do you think I've got this?" she said, holding up the necklace in front of her.

"Oh, the Scholastica Pyscana, of course! You're a Psyker! Then that's how you can still see stuff despite..."

"Yeah, got it in one! Pretty sure that's why those three went for me, but it was hard to tell for certain through their ranting. Um, did we want to get off the street, by the way? I feel like we probably shouldn't be out if those folks come back."  
"Yeah... yeah, you're right."

The two picked up Mell between them, and shortly after, arrived back at their barracks. Mell had woken by that point, and, having recovered a little, the three were chatting to each other. They'd also found out her name, which was apparently Nellie.

"Ah, I g-get it, the rage w-was because of you?"

"Yup! It's a new technique I'm working on that I call Fury of the Blood Angels, or at least it's supposed to be. The idea was to replicate the black rage of the Blood Angels while suppressing pain, to give a group an edge in close combat. But you're not supposed to get all the pain at once afterwards though, I'm still working on it..."

"Seemed to work well to me! Still, that was pretty horrible of those guys to try to kill you just for being a Psyker..."

"Hey, no worries, right? I'm ok, and I wasn't expecting to be after that so I think I've done pretty well! I know my power scares some people but most people at least see how useful I can be, and quite a few think it's pretty cool too!"

"Y-Yeah, I suppose I c-can see that! I m-mean I freaked out but it's thanks t-to you that we're ok too right?"

"No worries! Happy to help!"

"Uh, Nellie, where are you staying at the moment by the way? There's no training centre for Psykers around here is there?"

"Hmm? Oh, no, there isn't but I'm being evaluated for upgrading to Primaris Psyker status since apparently I'm pretty good. But I guess there was some kind of mistake since Commissar Kenton-uh, the one that was supposed to come meet me, he never arrived..."

"Oh, r-right. In t-that case, do you h-have anywhere to stay tonight? There's space in our b-barracks, I could always check if y-you could stay there?" Mell offered.

"Oh, really? Thank you, that'd be great! I'd better let your Commissar know, they don't like Psykers just wandering around normally."

"Yes, that's fine. I have to admit, I know Commissar Kenton, and he's not the type to be late or forget things. I'll look into his not showing up. Nellie, you can stay here as long as necessary in the mean time, I'm sure these girls will show you to the barracks later. As for your question Nanta, from what I understand official rulings allow each tank crew to bring a single container one and a half meters long by half a metre wide and deep on every tank, loaded with whatever they need so long as they can fit it onboard somewhere." Blue told them. Her team, despite how late in the day it was, were running drills. They were repeatedly deploying their heavy weapons, taking a few shots and then re-deploying. All except for one, who was running over towards them.

"Heeeey! Nanta!"

"Oh, you're Susan right?" Nanta replied. "Oh, your arm!"

"Yeah, I guess you've noticed then?" she answered. Susan's wounded arm was entirely gone. Now, a mechanical one took its place, all the way up to and including her shoulder. It was very bare bones, little more than a set of pistons with a square-fingered hand on the very end with no effort made to make it seem realistic.

"Yeah, they couldn't save your normal arm then?"

"Could have done but the medical supplies have been running low, and it got infected..."

"Oh... sorry to hear that..."

"Don't be, it wasn't your fault!"

"But it was my plan that sent you out there with Dog team!"

"You didn't know that we'd lose communications! It's not your fault, really, it was just bad timing that I moved my shield when I did. Oh, speaking of Dog team though, do you know where they are? I want to talk to them but we've been so busy with training I haven't had time-I've been busy with a crash course in learning how to use this thing." she asked Nanta, waving the arm around aimlessly.

"Dog team? Don't think so, do they even stick around after practise?" Nanta asked Tori, suddenly realising how little they'd actually talked to them.

"They don't even sleep in the barracks! I've no idea what they do away from training..."

"Oh... That's a shame. You've no idea at all?" Susan asked, obvious concern in her voice.

"No, I'm afraid not. Still, there's been some weird rumours about them recently. Didn't Dullahan mention something about rations?"

"I might be able to clarify a bit there." Blue interjected. "From what I understand, a great deal of ration packs have been going missing recently-specifically, desert rations. There are investigations ongoing as we speak but from what I understand, those three are apparently suspects, thanks to their heritage, and apparently, information from within this squadron."

"What? Really? They think they're stealing things?" Nanta exclaimed, very surprised by this.

"Well, it checks out. Savlar isn't the sort of planet you can succeed on by playing fair. If you're not a criminal, you're either a warden of some sort, or a constant target for other criminals. It's a penal planet where the worst criminals of the imperium are sent, though a fair chunk of the population are descendants of those criminals too." Kelly told the group. "Most of them are addicted to drugs of various kinds-that's why they carry those inhalers around most of the time. Combine that with how often they'll just leave as soon as practise is done and how little they talk to us and well, it seems pretty clear cut eh? I'll bet they just sell those deserts somewhere."

"I-I don't think that's true at all!" Susan interjected suddenly! "And I'm gonna find them and ask them myself!"

"So long as it doesn't cut into your training time, I see no reason to object to that. If you should find anything, let me know. I'd like to get this little issue resolved as soon as possible so we can focus on the upcoming match. I have a bad feeling about these Eldar. They've spooked or irritated every officer they've talked to the point where it's like some kind of obsession!" Blue told them. She was looking puzzled, as if she was trying to work something out.

"R-right, I'll get started straight away! Um, but does anyone know where they actually go? Any ideas? Since we train with Blue most of the time, I've never even seen them leave..." Susan asked.

"Oh, actually, I've seen them heading down into the sewer grates sometimes!" one of the other Catachan chipped in as her and Kant had been heading past.

"Sewer? Oh, I didn't realise... If they're going down into the under hive, I don't think I'll be able to find them..."

"Don't worry Susan, if we see them, we'll ask them to come see you or at least let them know you're looking for them." Kant told her. "Though like you said, I'm not sure we actually will any time soon."

"01010011 01101111 01110010 01110010 01111001 00100000 01010011 01110100 01100001 01110010 01110011 01100001 01101011 01111001 00101100 00100000 01101001 01110100 00100111 01110011 00100000 01110011 01110100 01101001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01101110 01101111 01110100 00100000 01110111 01101111 01110010 01101011 01101001 01101110 01100111 00101110..."

"Again?" Starsaky asked the vexed priest. "Catch, are you absolutely sure there's nothing wrong?"

"I've checked everything. It's engine should run optimally. Oil and water levels are at maximum. It's circuits are all reporting full function. There should be nothing wrong with this Taurox and yet..."

"We can't even start it." Starsaky groaned. "Ok, nothing for it, try the universal starting ritual!"

"01010011 01110100 01100001 01110010 01110100 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01100010 01110101 01100111 01100111 01100101 01110010 00100001!" the techpriest called as she gave the Taurox a hearty kick. Nothing happened.

"Incredible. I've never known the universal ritual to fail. It must be its machine spirit, there's nothing else it could be at this point..." Catch murmured.

"Does it want an offering, do you think? Incense, sacred oils, maybe a set of new tracks?"

"I do not think so. Look at it, it has hardly been ran. No scratches around the track hubs, no blackening around the exhausts. Maybe it is simply stubborn?"

"Perhaps. Or afraid? Either way, we may have to resort to... that, if we cannot convince it to start on its own."  
"Y-you really think it may come to that?" Catch asked nervously.

"Remember the words of our commander. Those without a vehicle go on foot. While you of course could manage that (she gestured to their third friend, who nodded) and perhaps still cause some damage, we would be little more than a liability."

"I see. But if we have to use that, it will anger its spirit. It is possible that it may cause a problem in the long run."

"We shall take the risk. For now, that's all we can do."

"HELLLLOOOOO AGARN! Kese here, your favourite commentator with my beautiful companion here! It's the day you've been waiting for as the lowest seeded team, our little local girls take on one of the highest Xenos seeds, the Eldar! Our locals went from literal nobodies to fan favourites during their incredible victory against the Tau but can they stand against the fast moving and tactical force that faces them today? Speed was a weakness of theirs in the last match so it'll be interesting to see if they've done anything to counter that this time! Now, as usual, we've got a special rule so let's see what they'll have this time!"

Kese gestured to the floating servo skull by him, which descended into the bag with a rattle, then floated back up with a sphere in it's jaw.

"Thank's very much dearie, now, let's see-aha! Oh, now this IS interesting! It's Boarding rules folks! For those unaware, Boarding rules allow combatants to dis-embark and fight on their own, including allowing them to board other tanks! Crew are not allowed lethal weapons or to kill deliberately, but beyond that, may disable their enemy by any means! So long as all the enemy tanks are disabled, it counts! No whining about unfairness!"

"Damnit!" Dullahan yelled out loud hearing this. "That rule is perfect for them! I bet they planned that somehow the sleazy-!"

"D-Dullahan? Ma'am, what-" Nanta stammered, baffled by her sudden outburst.

"I-sorry, I don't-I really don't know what came over me there... Right. The Eldar have quite an advantage thanks to that rule. They'll probably make full use of it, attempting to take you out in person and your shields aren't going to work in melee. While the plan is, as usual, down to you Nanta, I suggest you avoid letting them close."

"Right Ma'am. Let me think... Alright. I think... yes, I think I have a plan..."

(Authors note: Hello again all! I know this one took a little while but it's hopefully made up for by the chapter itself being longer than any of them so far... I think anyway. Thanks Mkoll, glad you're enjoying it. I actually only started playing Warhammer in 8th about a year ago so I wasn't aware you could do that with Chimera's but that's pretty neat and I can see how strong that would've been with how cheap guardsmen are in game. The third tech priest's not just spouting babble any more though I'll leave it you you all to work out exactly what she's saying. Next time on Girls Und Warhammer, The Battle of Razor Lake begins!)


	8. The Battle of Razor Lake Begins!

Girls Und Warhammer 40kChapter 8: The Battle of Razor Lake Begins!

"Today's battle is taking place on and around Razor lake. Tori came down here earlier in the week to scout out the area for me. Mind explaining the area a bit?"

"Sure thing Nanta. Razor lake is named for the many sharp triangular rock spires you can of course see. However, it's actually really shallow for the most part, barely deeper than our tanks and thanks to the rocky terrain, we can drive over considerable portions of it. I've picked up maps for all teams that show the areas of the battlefield we can actually cross. Don't stray too far from the shallower sections-in some areas the deep parts can go down for miles in underwater tunnels, we'll never recover your machines and if you don't get out quickly you'll drown for certain."

"Right, thank you Tori! And she's right. So, as Dullahan has trained us to do, we will move in two groups. Wolf Team, Scorpion team and Dog team will form one group while Horse team, Kangaroo team-ah, that's you Sarge, I figured it would make things simpler to give you a team name even if it's just you-and Rat team will form the second. Sarge, you'll be in charge of group two. Snake team, you will stay back and provide fire support. We'll make sure you're able to do so this time, we promise! We're uncertain of the Eldar's capabilities though, which is our biggest issue. We've no idea on their composition, or even just what they look like so we can't even guess the basics. Therefore, our plan is simple. Move towards the mid point of the lake on the west and eastern sides, sticking to cover as much as possible around the rocky spines. They're far more solid than the trees and should prevent any chance of flanking with luck. But that's not the only part. Inside your tanks are of course, the cases you have filled yourselves with items useful for today's fight. We have included additional instructions for every team member and items that you will need. Both I, and Dullahan suspect that the Eldar somehow have a way to find out what we are planning and I wish to make it as difficult as possible for them for them to do so, hence why I'm not telling you now. Open them five minutes in and follow them as best as you can."

Nanta paused at this. "Oh, and-Good luck all!"

The two groups quickly formed up, heading out over the more solid, rocky parts of the terrain. Wrath had been restored to near perfect condition and the huge Banehammer was surging proudly through the waters with seemingly no effort whatsoever. Its gigantic engine was audible to the other group even as they moved away, rumbling with what felt to Rat team like anticipation. Meanwhile, Wolf Team's Russ was making use of it's tune up, moving much more smoothly and quickly than it had before.

"Ok, Wolf Team here, First group, Sound off!" Kelly called over the Vox.

"Scorpion Team here, this is Blue. All systems go, this Taurox may be a bit different but our crew are managing it well enough."

"Dog Team, All systems operating nominally Ma'am."

"Eh? Dog team, did I hear that right?"

"Confirmed, all systems are operating at nominal capacity, we await your further orders."  
"Ah, ok, I mean you're talking kinda different was all... Ah well, Team one is go then."

Inside the Devil Dog, blue smoke was floating around the cabin. Tulip had made good her promise and had released her special mix into the cabin-and the effect was dramatic. The three were more alert than they'd ever felt, fully focused on achieving their goal. Daisy's turret tracked from side to side as Buttercup opened up the storage container they'd been given, not having packed anything themselves.

"It seems to contain extensions for our exhausts and intakes alongside the following orders. Reading as follows, Dog Team, I think the Eldar will attempt to target you specifically as the weakest link and the most likely to do something not part of either side's plan. Additionally, I believe they will be able to target all teams at long range, so I would like you to affix these to your tank on the move. We will, after the first rock section, proceed underwater along the shallow sections of the lake. As long as your hatches are sealed, you should be able to move underwater indefinitely. Further orders will be relayed by vox, be prepared to fire immediately."

"Understood. I'll fit them." Buttercup answered, all the usual kindness in her voice replaced by a cold, certain tone as she opened the hatch and began to screw the tubular extensions to the machine's own exhaust and air intake. She could see across to Scorpion team, who appeared to be doing the same to their own machine, and thankfully, no sign of the Eldar either.

"Ok, our orders... We believe the Eldar will target Dog team in an effort to disrupt whichever formation they are part of. They will be aware of this now so it shouldn't be a problem. Using our underwater hiding position, we will return to the second group in secret. Once the Eldar begin to group up around them, we will start an ambush, hopefully allowing us to destroy one around one third of their force and damage at least half. From there, we will decide on what to do next over vox. Well, it seems like a good plan and it's not up to us to argue." Kant said, folding the orders.

"Well, as the tanks commander you could, though she would not have to listen to you." Blue told her as she checked the seals around the window of the Taurox. She wasn't sure she liked it as much as the Chimera, it felt a little too open, though the expanded field of vision was an improvement. "Alright you lot, all seals checked? Good. Obviously, opening the hatches once we're underwater will be extremely difficult and a very bad idea, and anyone stupid enough to do so without a damned good reason will answer to me personally!"

"Yes Ma'am!" the Catachan chorused. One of them had been trying to work out if their Lascannon would poke through the side window, and quickly decided that perhaps now wasn't the time.

"Alright, what have they given us... Rat Team, your vehicle is going to draw fire whether or not we want it to so you should, despite your armour, stick to cover as you advance. Your advantage though is that you're so heavy, the water won't actually slow you down so don't be afraid to move into it to avoid focused fire. Attempt to destroy the biggest or most dangerous Eldar you encounter as quickly as possible, no need to conserve ammunition. Group one's mission has to be kept secret since we believe the Eldar are tapping us somehow to discover our plan but should you need us, send a message over the vox. Hah, need them? In this thing? The Eldar won't know what hit them!" Midge laughed at the message.

"You said it! I'm surprised she's even brought the others with us, I mean if we were in the Taurox sure but we're practically indestructible in this thing!" Bluebottle agreed.

"Our orders. Horse Team, we believe the Eldar will try to trick or ambush us in some way. You will be working the radar to it's maximum capacity in order to give us as best chance as possible to pre-emptively counter their assault. Since you've also got longer range, should the Eldar begin an attack, you will stop and hold the nearest cover, providing fire support with your missiles while co-ordinating artillery with Snake Team. Encrypt your vox messages using the following encryption codes. A simple plan but it should be effective." Starsaky read as their Taurox rumbled along, lagging behind the other two machines of their group by some distance.

"If only this machine would listen to us!" Catch responded grumpily. The Taurox had been fighting her attempts to drive it every step of the way. The handbrake had jammed on for a while. Gear changes had been grinding despite her efforts to work out if it needed more throttle, less, faster or slower changes. And, most worryingly, Starsaky was yet to be able to start the targeting program for their launchers. She'd checked and double checked the procedure, and tried every prayer she could think of to convince them to start to no avail. The main panel for the launcher controls was currently rattling around at the back of the tank as her tendrils tested every wire as best she could but couldn't find anything wrong with the machine.

"Agh, ouch!" she yelled as a painful electric current suddenly shorted through her. "What's wrong with this Taurox?"

"01010000 01100101 01110010 01101000 01100001 01110000 01110011 00100000 01101001 01110100 00100000 01110011 01101001 01101101 01110000 01101100 01111001 00100000 01110111 01100001 01101110 01110100 01110011 00100000 01110010 01100101 01110011 01110000 01100101 01100011 01110100 00111111" came a voice from the rear of the vehicle. Their third member was currently running diagnostics on the stun batons she'd temporarily replaced her swords with.

"It... it could be that, I suppose. We will try to give it what it is due." Starsaky responded, surprised that she'd not thought of it herself.

"Will you still use that?" Catch asked, gesturing to the small device that was the only item remaining in their box.

"I... I do not know. I don't want to but Commander Dullahan will be expecting us to do everything we can to achieve victory. It may be all we can do to ensure we do not disappoint her, but I'm worried that if I use that now..."

"We may not be able to stop." Catch finished. "Oh mighty Omnissiah. Please, lend us the wisdom and knowledge to send us to victory!" she pleaded quietly, the others bowing their heads in agreement.

"Well, the Mon-keigh are beginning to move." Ynsil told the rest of her crew from the inside of her Fire Prism. The tank, along with it's two similar twins, a Falcon and a Night spinner was hovering above the water just on their edge of the lake. "Oh? They're setting up a little ambush on the eastern end of the lake, how cute!"

"Should we inform Q'ueseen about that? She's headed that way now." one of the Eldar crewmen asked.

"No no no, why would we do that? Q'ueseen would welcome the challenge, and besides, she should already know! And anyway, if she's foolish enough to actually get caught out by them, she deserves whatever she gets! No, we'll stick to our plan. Nightweaver crew, are you ready?"

"We are ready. Assuming Q'ueseen can bear to save us a target, they'll never see what's coming to them!"

"Falcon crew?"  
"We are ready commander. Should any evade our net, we are ready to hunt them down!"

"Good! Still... something itches at the back of my mind..."

"Ynsil, Ma'am? Is anything wrong?" her second in command asked.

"Something seems off to me about this. It feels as if... As if something is missing. There's a dead space inside one of their machines into which I cannot perceive. Perhaps they will have something to surprise us with after all..."

The three members of the first group had taken the plunge into the lake. Yellow-tinged light filtered in through the windows of the Devil Dog as Dog team manoeuvred in the wake of the heavier Russ.

"It seems that we are proceeding as planned." Daisy told the other two Savlar. Tulip's blue smoke was thicker than ever even though she had sealed the canister that had been holding it.

"Ma'am, I regret to inform you that I am not feeling well. I fear that it may impact my ability to fight." Buttercup told Daisy. She had been starting to feel a little sick a little while after their submersion. "I hope that will not be a problem."

"It should be alright. Tulip, you formulated this mixture on yer own-ah, I mean, by yourself-I do not know what came over me there-did you not?"

"Y-yes." Tulip responded. Now it had been brought up, despite still feeling what had started as razor sharp focus, a sense of nausea was starting to overwhelm it's effects. The smoke was more opaque than she remembered it being too but she was hoping to be imagining that.

"Dog team, Immediate stop!" Nanta's voice rang over their vox.

"Acknowledged." Daisy replied as the brakes jammed on.

"We've seen one of them." Nanta continued, whispering quietly. She was looking through the top viewing cupola which was sat just under the surface of the lake. A pair of bright red, thin mechanical legs tipped with mechanical hooves were splashing down a few hundred meters away, having just come around one of the rocky spires. The walker attached to those legs was similar to their Sentinel but taller. It's cabin had no roof or sides, and a pair of curved energy weapons sat on its shoulders.

"It's scouting, I think..."

"Nanta, what's our plan?"

"Well, it's coming this way and hasn't seen us-well, I don't think it has anyway. If it gets close enough we can probably jump it but we might give away our position..."

"How about we call in Snake team?" Anne suddenly chimed in.

"Yeah, they won't know where they're being attacked from if they help us!" Sally follwed up.

"I-Yeah, that's it! Snake Team, fire on co-ordinates NW-04-05!" Nanta called over their vox.

"Understood, firing on those co-ordinates!" came the voice of Baal on the other end. A few moments later, as the walker gradually began to get closer, there was a loud bang in the distance! Barely ten seconds later, the surface of the water erupted upward just behind the walker! It stumbled, having been shunted forward by the force of the blast but remained on its feet. The stance of it changed immediately, suddenly seeming to tense up, its crewman clearly looking for the source of the attack. As this was happening, another pair of walkers had emerged from behind the same boulder as the first, all three quickly beginning to advance across the lake, breaking into a run! A second shell from Snake Team came down and one of the three walkers disappeared in the huge blast of water that sprang up directly under it, its pilot flung clear into the air before crashing back down with a splash!

"Cantan! Cantan, are you still there!?" came the voice of Commander Q'ueseen over her radio. With a groan of pain, the Eldar known as Cantan lifted her arm from where she was currently floating by her broken mount and flicked it on.

"I'm alright Commander! But those Mon'Keigh destroyed my walker. Its legs are broken!"

"I hadn't expected them to have artillery support. Swim out of the area when you can if you are not hurt. They must have spotted us from somewhere nearby, their technology is too primitive to do so from any range. Remaining War walkers, spread out and find them! I am moving in on the main group!"

The two walkers began to spray the lake with fire as they moved, blasting rays of blue-white light that caused the lake to erupt with steam where they hit.

"They're firing! D-Did they see us?" Mell asked as she tracked the turret to try to follow their movements through the spray.

"No, I don't think so. They're trying to make themselves some cover so we can't spot them for artillery. But now, we know a little about their weaponry and it looks like a kind of Eldar lascannon. I can't imagine our armour will hold against a hit..."

"Now I've seen them, I think they're Starcannons. I don't know how they work but in terms of role, yes, they're like a lascannon but more powerful and accurate." Kelly explained. "I'm not sure we can do much, if we're exposed they'll put a hole in us and then even if we're still going afterwards, we'll lose our surprise..."

"Maybe we can get close while they can't see us!" Tori suggested. "Then, BAM! We blow off their legs!" she added, hitting her fist against her palm.

"Well, I suppose that's a good plan... Let's try it. Dog Team, come in! Your weaponry is best suited for the task, so I'd like you three to move forward to point blank range and attack those two walkers! Make sure you destroy each one as quickly as possible!"  
"Under-blugh-understood... ugh..."

"Dog team, are you all ok?"

"We're fine-*cough*-I just *cough*-feeling a bit ill..."

Dog team was not, in fact, ok. All three were starting to feel quite ill, often coughing or wheezing as they moved their tank towards the nearest walker.

"Oi Oi, What-*cough*-what's happening?" Daisy spluttered. All semblance of the focus they'd had earlier had vanished.  
"I dunno, I -ugh- I didn't don' anythin' different, it worked before..." Tulip replied, suppressing a sudden surge of nausea. The gas had grown thick and blue dust was starting to stick to the walls of the tank.

"Chimney said sommin' about this, remember she was sayin' about Rynian?" Buttercup asked. She was starting to feel rather feint.

"*Cough* Oh, you mean when she was sayin' about those drugs he made goin' all sticky in the cold?" Tulip replied as her stomach dropped. "Y-you sayin' that the cold, or the water or sommin' is makin' my mix go bad?"

"What-*Cough*-what else could it be dummy?!" Daisy asked, the sarcasm in her voice rather muffled by her continued coughing. Then, with a muffled clang, the whole tank suddenly surged! None of the crew had been watching where they'd been going and they'd ran right into the base of one of the rocky spires. "Ok... ya'll think any of 'em heard that?..."

"'Fraid so, that one's * cough * lookin' this way!" Tulip called from the turret viewport. One pair of red legs had changed course and was heading towards them, having sighted the splashing.

"What do we do, what do we do?-ugh, I think I'm gonna -uhngh-" Buttercup had started to say before a bout of nausea struck and she suddenly bent double, trying not to throw up on her seat.

"We've * Cough * got to fire at it, * Cough * quick! And get out of the water!" Daisy spluttered, struggling to breath as the blue smoke seemed to become even thicker. Tulip grabbed at the controls, struggling to stay awake but managed to hit the fire button. With a flash and a blast of bubbles, the melta ignited. For a moment, it was a mere flare in the water, then suddenly blew forward in a huge burst of roiling steam and water towards its target! The fiery ray at it's core was barely visible but for a feint orange glow. For all it's impressiveness though, it wasn't actually in range of its target, not helped by the water. Moments later, the crew were temporarily blinded as a blue-white ray of light tore through their cabin! The eldar had fired back and had done so with pinpoint precision. Two thin jets of water suddenly began to spray into the cabin from inch wide holes where the ray had passed clean through the roof and floor.

"We're * splutter * we're floodin'!" Daisy called. "We's gotta get to the surface!"

"But-* blugh *- they'll disqualify us if we's jumpin' ship now!"

"I know's Buttercup but we's got no choice! If we's go * Cough * go movin' now they'll shoot us again!"

"What about those boardin' rules? If we's could be takin' out tha' walker on our own before they get as far as actually knockin' out our tank, we'd still be in it! We might be able to get it out the water an all if we's could get it pushed by one o' the others!" Tulip suggested, desperate for any plan that would get them out of the suffocating blue smog.

"It's all we's got, grab ya' batons and get ready ta' go swimmin!" Dasiy called, grabbing one of the three shock batons stored in their container. All crews had been given them as a last minute addition by Dullahan once she'd heard of the boarding rule, the batons themselves usually reserved for the local police forces. They were supposedly non lethal-but as with almost all weapons, that tended to depend on who was wielding them and how unruly the mob they were facing was getting. All three took long breaths, trying as best as they could not to cough or choke on the foul air, then Daisy pulled the hatch release. The water blew in in a sudden torrent and in mere moments, the entirety of the cabin was underwater and the three were swimming for the surface. They didn't have very far to go but they were still gasping for air nonetheless.

"Dog Team, come in! I repeat come in! Agh, still nothing!" Kelly called, trying to get a response from the vox, but the response was nothing but static. The five ducked again as another burst of steam blasted up from the water near their tank, the Eldar still rapidly firing into the lake.

"What's h-happening, did they d-ditch us or something?" Mell responded, keeping the nearest walker in her sights as best she could. This wasn't an easy task as the walkers were all weaving as they advanced, clearly trying to pre-emptively evade another round of fire.

"This is Snake Team, we're out of ammo on the main platform, we need a moment to re-stock!"  
"Ok Snake Team, we still need you so re-prepare quickly!" Kelly called back. "Basilisk support is gone for now, the enemy's going to find us soon!"

"What are Scorpion team doing?" Nanta asked her, Kelly turning back to the vox.  
"Scorpion team, status?"  
"We're trying to crawl our Chimera up closer while the water's churning. However, Kant has concerns about our weaponry's effectiveness from under here. Your recommendation commander?" Blue asked, her voice quiet as if she were trying not to be heard.

"Good question, what do we do Nanta?" Tori asked, as, for a moment the tank fell silent but for the rumbling of the engine.

"I-ah, well..." she muttered. She'd not expected the plan to fail so quickly and was completely lost for a plan.

"Commander, we're almost there, your orders?" Blue's voice rang out.

"I... You know what? We're going in. We'll charge them head on! There's only two, perhaps we can take them out before they find us, and I can't think of a better plan. All tanks, Dog team that includes you if you can hear us, begin your attack right now!"

"Yes Ma'am!" Blue's voice called over the vox, muffled by the very enthusiastic cheers of the rest of her team.

"We're going in, just like that?" Tori asked uncertainly.

"Yeah. I think it might be our best shot. Mell, Anne, Sally, let rip with everything you have! Don't worry about ammo, focus on taking out the nearest walker as fast as you can!"

"Those Mon-kiegh are doing a good job of hiding if nothing else!" one of the two Eldar called over the hiss of steam as she continued to strafe the area. She'd fought the Guard before but hadn't seen them act like her current foes and it was beginning to get on her nerves.

"Calm, Sister. Q'ueseen's firing patterns have not failed us yet. We'll keep firing, and disable them before lo-" but she was cut off. The water a few hundred feet away exploded with blue light! Two balls of blue-white plasma came hurtling out of the ensuing steam cloud and the Eldar had to throw her walker to the side to evade-but as she did, a shell tore up through the cloud and with a bang, her walker was knocked backwards, twisting hard to one side! The Russ's shell had missed the cockpit. Though it hadn't detonated, it had hit one of her Starcannons tearing it right off her walker! The other sister had been met with a hail of small explosions and a spray of water from the lake in front of her, rattling off the front window of her walker. It was accompanied by a stream of Lasgun shots, half of which seemed to be firing the wrong way while the ones that did hit did no actual damage.

"I think we have found them Sister!"  
-

(Authors note: Wow, well, my apologies, I've been really slow with this one. Life at home's been busy but I have to admit, I've certainly fallen behind with this. I've found it kind of hard to write if I'm honest, I don't really know how the Eldar act since I've never been that keen on them if I'm honest, they're probably my least fav faction out of all those in 40k. (that's actually why I'm putting them in so early, so I can get it over with.) I'd certainly like to get on with this though and I'll try to get back to working on it a bit more actively. Next time on Girls Und Warhammer, Wrath Unleashed!)


	9. Wrath Unleashed!

Girls Und Warhammer 40kChapter 9: Wrath Unleashed!

The ground shook at the passing of the Banehammer. Small trees poking out above the surface were crushed to splinters at it's passing, but the mighty tank did not slow as it surged across the lake. This was despite the fact that Sarge's Sentinel was perched on the roof of the large casemate, under which the brand new gun now sat, gleaming in the sunlight.

"Alright then, there's something important I want to ask you all!" Midge called over the steady but noisy rumble from the tank's engine.

"YES... COMMANDER?..." Crunch responded, not even having to yell to be heard.

"You all think we should take it easy on the Eldar to let the others actually get a few points?!" she called back, to cheers from the crew.

"I still can't believe they let us use something like this, surely this is unfair?" Bluebottle laughed.

"WHY..." Crunch called but she was drowned out by Cathrine, who had starting to sing a rather unflattering song about the Eldar. Instead, Crunch turned to Jade, who was currently working on the engines. Though they were fully repaired, she was keeping a tight eye on the older parts of the tank. No-one had been able to pinpoint the origin of the tank, it's makers mark having apparently been lost at some point, so it's age was unknown, and this had worried Jade. While the older machines of the Imperium were certainly venerated, she knew what the others didn't-that they could be much more temperamental, their machine spirits often far stronger and more active. However, there'd been no sign of Wrath having a spirit at all so far, so she was keeping her fingers crossed.

"WHY... TAKE... EASY?..." Crunch asked her in her usual slow voice.

"Because the Eldar vehicles are inferior to our own, to a considerable degree! A vehicle as mighty as ours can crush entire formations, even fortresses! This fight is already over, in a sense, it's only a matter of time!" Jade explained proudly. "And her engine is running perfectly so far as well! We're well sorted, trust me." she added. Crunch seemed satisfied by this, though Jade was one of the few to realise that Crunch wasn't quite as dense as she looked. A little slow to process sometimes though, she found herself thinking. She knew that Crunch would probably continue the conversation in a few minutes, so returned to her tinkering.

Sarge meanwhile, was scanning the horizon through the fairly thin vision slits on her new Sentinel. She hadn't expected the Eldar to come out swinging, she knew well enough that was not their style. But it was definitely starting to bother her that there had been no sign of them at all so far.

"Horse team?"

"We read you Kangaroo Team." came Starsaky's voice. Judging by the strangely good quality, Sarge found herself wondering if she had a vox system quite literally built in to herself.

"Is your radar picking up anything at all? In any direction?"  
"Nothing Sargent."

"Including vertical? I don't trust the Eldar not to pull something sneaky."

"Switching to vertical... hold on..."  
"Have you found something?" Sarge asked urgently.

"The... the whole screen changed colour, very slightly. Like there's a weak response, everywhere above us. I think the radar might be miss-calibrated..."

There was a sudden flash, and a bolt of red energy blew through the boulder-line directly ahead of the group, missing all their machines but leaving an echoing bang as it passed through!

"Enemy fire! Quick, target their location!" Catch called out on the vox.  
"Don't do it, all vehicles, aim all weapons you can upward, repeat, upward! We need to fire up right now! Repeat, RIGHT NOW!" Sarge yelled in panic through the vox. The radar wasn't wrong, and she knew because she'd seen this before. Shifting her walker to face upwards, she fired up every weapon she could, except for her missile launcher. Her autocannon fired a stream of rounds upward, tracers streaking out into the sky. Behind her, the Taurox loosed off a single missile which streaked upwards, the Techpriests having suddenly found it's spirit co-operative enough to at least do that. Wrath however was unable to fire, it's weapons unable to actually point upwards to any significant degree. For a moment, the tracers rattled into the cloudy looking sky-and then, one of the autocannon rounds exploded! The suddenly pale sky seemed to tear across the middle, another tear forming as the missile seemed to strike it and detonate! With a sound like 'Flump' a strange white mass of what looked like thin string or webbing suddenly landed, split around the three machines like a hole in a silk blanket! Then, there was a crashing of branches, the creaking of splitting wood from the small cluster of trees nearby and the crashing of rocks beginning to fall apart around them! Trees fell like they had been sliced vertically into rough pillars, severed branches rattling to the ground, wildlife called out in pain, boulders splashed into the water-and Sarge froze.

The images of her squad, cut to ribbons by something she'd never seen coming flashed across her mind. She herself had only been saved by the remains of a crashed Valkyrie in the trees above, and the sharp mesh had still cut her badly. She'd had to cower under a massive, fallen tree to avoid the Eldar that had come sweeping through barely five minutes after, the Eldar she had been sent to hunt. She remembered them putting rounds into the few squad members that had lived, that had been her friends. They'd seen the same things coming too, a weak but wide reaching radar signal, a bolt that drew their attention away at the last moment-and then, nothing. She'd later found out what had happened. This was a common tactic of the Eldar in the jungles. A vehicle known as a Night-Spinner would weave and throw a massive web of filament, only a single molecule in width over a huge area. The filament is extraordinarily sharp, able to easily slice through flesh effortlessly and silent in flight. It wasn't even easy to see, almost a flawless weapon if you're not looking for it, and the sniper bullet was designed exactly for the sake of distracting the foe at the last minute. It would, over a few hours, dry and become solid, losing it's edge and becoming so fragile the slightest brush would snap it but until then it was thoroughly lethal to living creatures. Armour could stop it, they'd found, but it had to be tough, such as the Adamantium that most imperium tanks were armoured with. Steel alone wouldn't cut it and the cheaper Sentinels in her unit made from it had not lasted long.

But her time in the jungle had taught her well about fighting the Eldar overall. They'd never go for the straightforward assault and every attack of theirs was well planned, and would have backup plans for if things did go wrong. They were skilled too, usually low in number but always well equipped and very able. She'd also learned, much to her grim satisfaction how brittle they were physically if you could actually get to them unnoticed.

Remembering what she'd learned, she lept off the roof of Wrath as she pressed the speak button on her vox again.  
"The Eldar have at least one Night Spinner operating in the area, likely not that far ahead as their range is somewhat limited. I'm going to track it down, Rat and Horse teams, there's almost certainly an attack on the way now, be ready for it! Once I find it, I'm going to need fire support so come meet me as soon as possible, got it?"

"Understood, we'll blow 'em to bits!" came Bea's voice from the Banehammer.  
"We will re-calibrate our radar to better predict attacks like the last one. They will not surprise us again." Starsaky's voice followed.

Or, she'd have liked too, but the radar had at that moment, chosen to start glowing and sparking violently!

"Agh! What?!"

"That's not something we're doing, this looks like the work of psyker powers! The Eldar are coming!" Catch called across the vox. She was right. As Sarge's sentinel slipped away behind a low, long rock formation, three bright red Windrider hover bikes soared over the rocks ahead, and all three opened fire, small projectiles streaking out in massive quantities from the cannons under their bike's noses! Tiny shurikens, sharp as the webbing soared through the air, sticking into the surface of Wrath's frontal armour! However, the projectiles were tiny and Wrath's armour extremely solid, easily halting any shurikens before they could get close to breaching through.

"Eldar sighted! All gunners, open fire!" Midge called out, and the massive tank seemed to erupt with fire! There was an ear-shattering bang as the gun fired, kicking even the massive Banehammer backwards, as beams of red light were loosed off from the Lascannons and gouts of fire billowed from the flamers! The shell from the main gun passed right between two of the bikers, whose riders had to jink violently to avoid being thrown off by the sheer wind pressure from the passing projectile, but they stayed on, swerving to avoid the lascannons! One however made a mistake, and flew directly into the flaming cloud! There was a thump as the bike's engine ignited and it spiralled down into the lake in flames!

"Calavan, are you still alive down there? What did you do to cause your readings to fail?" came a rather disinterested voice through the Eldar's helmet.

"Yes Commander Nern. I was shot down I'm afraid, the humans have a rather large tank here, far bigger than what I was expecting and it caught me with it's flamers. A Baneblade of some sort, no turret though, just a rather ugly fixed gun of some sort."

"You're an embarrassment to your unit. Get yourself back. We'll take over for your feeble effort to scout ahead." the same voice followed up.

"Head's up, there's three more of them on route to your location!" Sarge's voice suddenly rang out across the vox.

"Not now, why won't this blasted thing fire? It was working a moment ago!" Starsaky yelled in frustration. The missile software had failed almost as quickly as it had started and despite their third preist's efforts to fend off one of the now circling bikes with the Taurox's fixed lasguns, they were effectively helpless, only shielded by the fact they were barely visible behind Wrath's huge frame. Catch was praying desperately but it's machine spirit would not respond.

"01010111 01100101 00100111 01101100 01101100 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110110 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110101 01110011 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100001 01110100 00100000 01101101 01100001 01100011 01101000 01101001 01101110 01100101 00101100 00100000 01101001 01110100 00100111 01110011 00100000 01100001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01110111 01100101 00100000 01100011 01100001 01101110 00100000 01100100 01101111 00100001" their third member called in desperation.

"I-" Starsaky began to speak, but was cut off. The targeting system had beeped, and come back online! "Ah, finally! Alright, acquiring target... Firing!" she called, pulling the firing trigger. One of the taurox's missiles soared out over the top of the Banehammer toward one of the Eldar bikes-but before it could land, a ray of light shot out, striking it in mid air and causing it to detonate!

Three more Eldar bikes had appeared from off to their right. These three were Vypers, larger than the others with two crew instead of one, and armed with a single Starcannon on a rear mounted turret. The three opened fire at Wrath-and, to the horror of the onlookers, the starcannons punched clean through it!

For a few moments, the inside of the tank were complete chaos. Sheilds buzzed on as blinding light filled the interior of the machine! When it cleared, the yelling began. About half the crew had been flash-blinded and were struggling to work out what was going on. Several others had been hit, and while not injured, the strange sensation their sheilds gave when running was thoroughly disorienting them. And, worst of all, the engine spluttered to a stop, the interior lights failing, quickly replaced by red emergency lighting.

"W-what just happened?" Bea asked. She'd had to throw off her headphones, the vox unit she'd been manning had given off a deafening sound when they'd been struck.

"I think they hit us... What on holy Terra could cut through our armor like that? We're supposed to be indestructible in here... right?" Midge responded, her voice audibly shaking.

"Commander, our engines have stopped! If we can't get going we're going to be counted as immobilised!" Jade called from the rear section.

"Wrath was struck! They need our help, dammit!" Starsaky called over the noise of the team's efforts to get their vehicle's weapons firing, but the stubborn Taurox was still refusing to respond.

"It's no use, we'll have to use the backup! Quick, get it unpacked-wait, what's that sound?" Catch had begun to respond. However, a low rumbling had started, loose screws rattling as the Taurox shook. "What-is that Wrath?!"

The techpriest was correct. Without any action taken by it's crew, Wrath had began to shake, it's engine making a sound somewhat like it was struggling to turn over!

"Jade, what's happening?!" Midge called.

"I... I don't know, I've never seen..." Jade answered distractedly as the rumbling built. The Eldar had come back around, and all five bikes opened fire, more blue bolts flashing into the cabin! A console exploded as one flashed through it but even as it did, the engine suddenly gave a bellowing roar and the tank kicked forwards so hard the front lifted into the air, going almost vertical! Every light inside and out on the tank suddenly lit up as blazing blue jets of flame blew out from the exhaust and the shaking intensified to an incredible level! The bikes jinked to the side but even as they did the Banehammer came crashing back down as it surged forward, crushing one of the Vyper's under it's sheer bulk as it's crew dived for safety! Despite it's tough armour the bike didn't stand a chance and exploded beneath it but the tank didn't stop, starting to skew left! It's guns began to open up, lascannons firing in much longer bursts than usual, glowing red hot! The flamers opened up too spitting burning clouds, tracking individual targets even as the crew tried to work out what was happening!

"What's happening?! Who gave firing orders?!" Midge yelled at the top of her lungs, trying to make herself heard over the sudden cacophany

"WE... NOT... DOING... ANYTHING!" Crunch's voice rang out over the din.

"It must be it's spirit! It's fighting on it's own now, I've never even heard of one this strong!" Jade called, her further words completely inaudible as the main gun fired! One moment, a Vyper was moments from passing the front of the tank, the next it was torn to smithereens, it's crew thrown into the lake by the force of the impact! The Taurox's missile launcher suddenly beeped and Starsaky immediately hammered the fire trigger. Thankfully it obeyed and two more missiles soared out, one striking a Windrider directly, sending it spiralling into the lake in flames. The other pilot jinked once again and the missile shot off in the wrong direction-but the new path brought them in range of the raging giant. With little fuss, a lascannon beam bloomed into life, and with seemingly no effort, sliced the bike in two, the pieces and pilot splashing into the lake!

"Commander Nern, we need help! The tank survived our attack, it's going berserk! Our bikers are being blown to pieces!" the remaining Eldar gunner called out across the radio, unable to even take aim, so violent was the course the pilot was having to take to avoid the hail of fire now trying to track it.

"You're panicking like you're one of them. How many of you are left?" came the once again bored voice of their commander.

"Just us, we're taking heavy fire!"

"Just-WHAT?! What are you doing?! Agh, I knew I should have taken part in this battle, I can't trust you to get anything right! Take them out!" Nern's furious voice rang out, but it was too late. Though the driver had gotten them behind Wrath, away from all it's weapons but the lascannons, they had been unable to track the Taurox. And, while the launchers had failed once more, the hot-shot guns still worked and managed to rake across the side of the Vyper. With a bang, a flash and a burst of sparks one of the fins flew off, and before it's driver could stabilise it, it joined the rest of it's squad in the lake.

"That's the last of the airborne targets. The radar shows no further Eldar contacts." Starsaky stated across the vox, before sighing with relief.

"That was certainly something. Those ratlings pulled off some incredible moves there!" Catch responded, looking out the window towards the other tank. It was silent now, puffs of black smoke occasionally emerging from the engine and the new holes in it's hull.

"So what... what was that?" Midge asked, more than a little stunned. The inside of the tank was nearly silent now, absent was the rattle and rumble the engine usually emitted. Every now and then though, the engine would rev and spurt various liquids out of the holes the Eldar had put in it.

"I don't know, we didn't do anything!" Bluebottle responded, looking just as bewildered. "I wasn't touching the controls at all and the thing practically did a wheelie!"

"DAMAGED?" Crunch asked slowly. She'd had to catch Catherine, who'd fallen out her seat when the tank had tipped up, and was gently setting down the very surprised Ratling.

"No, I don't think so. Not critically. Despite damage to our engines it would seem we're still running relatively smoothly. A few minor issues, and the left flamer's reading a fuel leak. Other than that, we appear to have got off very lightly." Jade responded as she looked over the reports. "I think we should perhaps proceed with a little more caution. A prayer to the Omnissiah might not hurt either?" she added. The others nodded. It seemed to make sense, given what they'd seen, and the group joined their techpriest in a short prayer.

"WHAT... NOW?..." Crunch asked.

"I... Well, I mean our plan technically worked right? We were supposed to draw them out then fight and I guess it worked! Was that all of them?" Bea responded uncertainly.

"Well, there's got to be at least one more right? I wonder how Sarge is doing?..."

(Authors note: Well, I know it's an odd spot to leave this on but I want to get something uploaded to let you all know the story ain't dead. I mean, with an upload schedule like this, I wouldn't blame you for thinking so. I've taken a bit of a look at the Eldar, and I think I have a slightly better idea on how they'd work, at least to some degree (I actually do have Dawn of war 1 and 2, for those who've never played it I really recommend the Ultimate Apocalypse mod for 1, it's absolutely stellar if a right pain to install). I've written them with a bit more emotion than they're supposed to have because at this point, I think they actually could show it. With chaos weakened as badly as they've been they don't have to hide them any more. (from what I understand, bad times with slanesh tend to follow in current 40k if they go around doing that). Also, in future, ignore anything I say about uploading more frequently. Clearly I'm not gonna manage that. But, it's not dead and I'll try to work on it where I can. Next time on Girls Und Warhammer, The Snake, The Sargent and the Swimmers!)


	10. The Snake, The Sargent and the Swimmers!

**Girls Und Warhammer 40k**

 _ **Chapter 10:The Snake, The Sargent and the Swimmers!**_

"That's our last shell." Baal told the others from her position on the basilisk's loading platform. "We'll need more from the stockpile if we're going to keep supporting Wolf Team."

Nairone tapped her shoulder twice, her signal that she had heard. Her usual typing screen wouldn't work for Baal so they'd had to work out a lot of systems along those lines to co-ordinate their vehicle. She waved at Kaise and held her hand out flat, then made a gesture of picking things up.

"Ok, I'll haul them up!" Kaise responded, and started to haul shells out from the internal compartment up onto the main platform. As she did, Baal started stacking them, after placing one in the chamber. Nairone was making small adjustments to the gun's aim but there wasn't an enormous amount she could do at that range. She had to hope that they were at least helping the fight at the lake, even if they didn't land any direct hits. There was a reason basilisk formations often numbered in the hundreds or even thousands for extended sieges after all. Suddenly, Kaise hauled herself out of the loading hatch onto the deck, and hissed "We've got a problem!" at the other two, who looked over at her. "I've seen one of their tanks, just over there by those boulders, but I don't think they've seen us yet!" she whispered at the two.

Nairone looked over for a moment, then started typing as Baal asked "What do we do?"

"Got to hide, we're too obvious. Not like we can fight in close combat while we're dug in like this." Nairone had typed and tapped Baal on the back three times, then the back of her hand before taking it, their code for both 'Retreat for now' and 'Follow my guide'. Kaise passed the two stun batons as they jumped down for the platform, making for a nearby outcropping that stuck out low over the lake's surface. The Eldar tank, a falcon, was approaching having now sighted the basilisk. It was red and curvy, clearly built for a forward facing attack with two large air intakes and transparent canopy through which its pilot could be seen. On the top was a turret fitted with both a bright lance and a large shuriken cannon, backing up the array of smaller anti-infantry weaponry mounted under the main body. Two jet engines propelled it over to the Basilisk with barely less speed than the jetbikes, a large wake of water washing over the three as they took cover under the rocks.

"Well, this is one of their vehicles alright but where's their crew? It looks abandoned." the Falcon's gunner asked its driver.

"No idea. Perhaps they ran away when they heard who they were fighting?" the driver replied mockingly.

"I dunno, Q'ueseen's squad was reporting artillery fire, and from what we've seen this is all they've got. Want me to knock it out to make certain?"

"Yes, put a bolt through it's engine and it's gun barrel. This is clearly a machine of some craftsmanship compared to most of what the Imperium builds, it would seem a shame to destroy it entirely. Just enough to put it out of action."

"Yes Ma'am" the gunner said, and the three looked on in horror as it pulled up to the side of the Basilisk and fired once. A beam of blue-white sparkling light fired out, passing clean through the back of the tank, and a moment later, it's engine blew out, smoke pouring from it's exhausts. A moment later it moved up and put a hole in the base of the barrel too, which sagged from the extreme heat the impact had generated.

"Well, that's one down. I am surprised it's taken us this long to disable any of them, Nern's never going to live down this mess!" the Gunner chuckled.

"She is as overconfident as the Monkeigh she fights, but she will learn. She's still a young commander after all. Ynsil, we have disabled their artillery support. Q'ueseen is now free to move into the fight without fear of retribution at long range."

"Good work. Move to the co-ordinates I am sending you, their super heavy has disabled Nern's squadron and I am starting to worry that it may be more of a concern than we first expected. You will help Q'ueseen to disable it."

"Understood." the driver responded, and the tank turned, starting to float out across the lake.

"Dammit!" Kaise whispered, anger in her voice as her fists clenched. "They got our tank, dammit!"

"What do we do now then? Is there anything we can do?" Baal asked, watching the Falcon as it drew nearer, Nairone copying her words so Kaise could read.

"We're not going to just give up, Scorpion team didn't in the last match!" Kaise responded, but even she wasn't sure exactly what they would do-for a moment at least. An idea had struck in her head as the tank floated towards them. "I know what I can do! I'm going to board that tank!"

"That's crazy Kaise." Nairone typed, but Kaise shook her head.

"No, I'm not going to fight, I'm going to track it, send the messages back to you on our vox-gear and then you can broadcast the info to the other teams! They've knocked out our machine but we can still at least help! Nairone, lead Baal back to the Basilisk, maybe see if you can't make some repairs."

"Alright. But look after yourself." She typed, then made the follow gesture to Baal.

"Ok. We'll make sure they know not to shoot untill you're clear. Good luck!" she said before the two started wading across towards their machine. Kaise pushed through the water, and as the Falcon flew past, she leaped, grabbing a hold of one of the guns on the base of the tank! Hauling herself up, she wrapped her legs around it and clung on for dear life as the engines kicked in and the tank blasted off, soaring rapidly across the landscape.

Sarge's Sentinel bounded through the water, which was starting to become scattered with smaller stones which she hopped across where possible. Sparks flew as adamantium collided with rock and the sentinel constantly threatened to slip at the speeds she was pushing it too but she wasn't considered an ace for no reason and it held steady. Off in the distance she sighted the Fire Prism that had fired the distracting shot earlier, and considered her options. She could attempt to take it on but she knew from their reputation how accurate the tanks were even at extreme range, so if it spotted her she'd have very few options and the gap to it was very large and very exposed. No, best to call it in for Snake Team.

"Snake team, enemy Fire Prism located, high priority target! Fire on these co-ordinates!" she called over her radio. Static was her only answer. "Snake team, do you copy?" Nothing once again. "Rat team, are you there? Repeat, Rat team, do you copy?" For a third time, her reply was merely electrical hissing. She didn't know it at the time but Rat team's voxcaster had been knocked out in their earlier fight. "Horse team?" she asked, getting desperate.

"This is Horse team, we read you Kangaroo team. What do you need?" Starsaky's voice responded over the vox and Sarge practically sighed with relief.  
"I've found an enemy Fire Prism, it MUST be knocked out before it starts picking targets! Those things are death incarnate to tanks, even heavy ones. Believe me, I've seen them in action. Can you do it?"

"We shall try Sargent. Any advice?"  
"Don't let it see you. Ever. Hit it before it knows what's coming and if possible, get behind it first. And never assume you're out of effective range-if it can see you, it can put a hole in you. Sending co-ordinates now."

"Understood." Starsaky's voice responded before the signal cut. Sarge felt a pang of guilt-she knew it was a very dangerous opponent but she was hunting the Night spinner and wasn't going to let anything get in the way. But her momentary distraction had cost her. The Sentinel landed awkwardly on the next boulder and begun to slip-and as it did, she saw a cone shaped bolt of web rocketing towards her, a dead tree in the way disintegrating as the webbing struck it! With no other option, as the Sentinel crashed sideways Sarge kicked it's legs outwards, and it rolled legs over cabin through the water, barely avoiding the blast of web! She scrabbled the sentinel to it's feet, strafing to the side while another spray of the web flew past. She raised the cabin to point the auto cannon at the target and pulled the trigger-but there was a flash from the cannon and the barrel blew off! It had been bent in the landing and shot itself, the barrel now split open like a banana peel, the far end splashing down in the lake. Sarge cursed but threw the Sentinel into a forward sprint, now able to see her target. It was identical to the falcon but for the turret, who's twin guns were much shorter and wider, somewhat like elongated plant bulbs and had no secondary weapon. It's barrels begun to spin rapidly, then started firing web shaped bolts of thread that burst fourth towards Sarge's sentinel! Her hands flew across the controls, lunging from side to side to dodge as the sentinel ran for all it was worth! A forward assault had not been her plan but it was her only chance now. As she got close, she saw her chance and with some very fast finger work, redirected as much pressure as she could into the Sentinel's lower leg pistons, causing it to leap forward! The Night spinner held fire for a moment, spooling up additional web for a finishing shot-but Sarge had counted on this! While she couldn't dodge in the air, she could fire off her one missile as she leapt, and it struck the thread, detonating and scattering the webbing! Shredded strands cut deep gashes in her Sentinel as it flew through the flaming cloud, and the end of one exhaust was cut clean off but it didn't stop!

It came down on the wing of the Night spinner, clawed feet cutting into the hull of the tank as it crashed to a halt! The gunner was fast, turning the turret to face her but not fast enough as Sarge had leapt once again! For a moment, his gaze followed the Sentinel-before his survival instincts took over and he hit the eject moments before the Sentinel's foot came crashing down, shattering his turret's window! The Sentinel's chainsword revved up as Sarge brought it down between the tank's twin barrels where they met it's turret, adamantium teeth raging against wraithbone! For a few moments Sarge thought it's hull would hold, but then the teeth bit in properly and began to saw through, severing the barrels and sending sprays of sticky, un-spun webbing spraying out over the front of the tank! It quickly covered the front window and caused the tank to careen off course, splashing down into the lake as Sarge still clung onto the turret.

"Eject or die Eldar scum!" she called as she positioned her Sentinel to strike-but the chainsaw had clogged with webbing and wouldn't move! As the Eldar scrambled out of the cockpit, Sarge raised the foot to smash the front window as well-and, with little warning, the Wraithnight that had snuck around the nearest massive boulder backhanded the sentinel and sent it flying! Sarge had been too distracted to hear the surprisingly quiet giant walker but she certainly noticed it now! The Sentinel crashed down, one leg flying off as it smashed into the lake's surface! Sarge was knocked out in the impact, her shield only able to absorb some of the force.

Kangeroo team was out.

"Oi Oi, put ya swimmin' muscles inta it!" Daisy called as the three members of Dog team swam for all they were worth, trying to catch up to the walkers moving up on Wolf team's submerged tank.

"I'm tryin' but the damn things won't slow down!" Tulip called back. "And Buttercup's arm's slowin' her, it ain' fully healed yet ya know!"

"Don' worry 'bout me, just keep up!" Buttercup called as she struggled to keep up despite her bad arm, but as it turned out she didn't have to worry. The two walkers had suddenly stopped, both sweeping from side to side and clearly looking for Wolf and Scorpion team, though neither of them were firing either. The three managed to catch up as they did, coming to a halt just behind it.

"Alright Daisy, wha's the plan?" Tulip whispered to her.

"I'ma thinkin' the ol' double fake, though I'm puttin' Buttercup up front this time as she ain' in good fightin' shape, whaddya think?"

"You thinkin' that'll do it? They're s'pposed to be pretty good scrappers right?" Buttercup asked, also whispering, fearfull that the pilot just above them might hear though with the sound of the water and the walker's engine this was rather unlikely.

"Don' see why not, they're real spindly them Eldar! I reckon one good hit'll do it!" Tulip cut in cheerfully, raising her baton. "You takin' the shot Daisy?"

""Yep, an' I hope you're ready 'cause we're goin' now!" she said as she grabbed onto the war walker's knee joint and began to haul herself upwards. All three had plenty of experience with climbing what they weren't supposed to but the smooth curves of the Eldar walker made for poor handhelds. Still they didn't have far to go and they quickly moved into position, Buttercup crouched on top of the engine while Tulip and Daisy clung to the sides, just out of view of it's pilot. The two watched as Buttercup gestured. 3. 2. 1. Now!

Buttercup lept forwards, spinning rather gracefully through the air as she did and grabbing the protective screen at the Walker's front, staring intensely at the pilot as she hung on the screen's far side.

"Heya there!" she called to him cheerfully!

"Wha-There's a human on my walker! They're trying to board us!" the Eldar called out over their radio, but as he did, Tulip appeared in his vision to his left, swinging her stun baton!

"Surprise pointy!" she called mockingly as she swung, but the Eldar countered with impressive speed, drawing the sword at his waist, standing up and parrying the swing all at the same time!

"You don't seriously think a little trick like that is going to-" BAM! The pilot's sentence was cutoff midway as Daisy, appearing silently from the other side of the walker's cabin slammed her own baton into the back of his head! Unfortunately for her, she wasn't aware of how the Eldar's body armour worked. Inside the thin wraithbone shell were pockets of very highly compressed air. As she'd struck it, breaking the first layer the air had bust out with incredible force and the baton bounced clean off with such force that Daisy fell backwards with a cry, falling from the walker into the water!

"Daisy!" Tulip cried out, striking again with her baton but the pilot deflected her blow and struck back, slamming the blunt side of his blade against her torso! Though she stumbled back winded, she managed to grab the side of the cockpit and stop herself from falling. The pilot himself seemed slightly dazed.

"Hah... I take it back, you're not as stupid as you look are you? But your numerical advantage is already failing you!" he taunted and threw one of the levers sideways, causing the walker to suddenly lurch sideways! With a yell Buttercup's already shaky grip was broken and she fell, splashing down in the lake near Daisy. Tulip too had been thrown but she fell towards the Eldar and as she fell, she made a grab for the Eldar, catching his helmet and pulling it off as she fell, knocking him off balance and the two fell for a moment before the Eldar caught the edge of the now leaning walker, arresting both his fall and Tulip's.

"There's nothing you can do Mon-keigh! You'll never break my grip and if you back off I'll fight you off with ease!" he taunted as Tulip stared at him for a moment. Then, with a wink, she kissed him! For a moment, a look of confusion filled his eyes and his grip on the walker loosened very slightly-before Tulip bent her head back and headbutted him square on the forehead! His grip failed, and the two plummeted into the lake!

"They've knocked out the crew! Mell, quick! Hit that walker!" Nanta called! She'd been watching the walkers, trying to discern her next move when she'd seen the team climbing the legs of the walker and had been biting her nails as she tried to work out who was winning.

"Firing!" Mell called, and with a boom and a flash of water and steam the shell blasted out across the lake! It struck the dead center of the walker and with a flash and a burst of flame, the walker's cabin was blown to pieces! A few moments later, the legs crashed backwards into the lake with it.

"Nice shot!" Kelly cheered, slapping Mell on the back and grinning massively as she went to reload the gun.

"Ah, t-thanks K-Kelly!" Mell returned, now grinning as well.

"Tori, you'd better get us moving though before that last one sees us, we-" Nanta had begun to order but as she did, the vox's incoming message signal buzzed.

"Wolf Team this is Snake team! There is an Eldar tank of some kind moving in on Rat team and our tank has been knocked out! We can no longer provide fire support, sorry!"

For a moment, there was silence but for the noise of the Tank beginning to move again.

"Do we respond Nanta?" Tori asked her.

"No, they'll pick up our location and at this proximity that might give us away to that last walker. Unless... Ok, I have another plan!" she told them, then stepped down from her usual position in the turret, bending down to the back of the tank and opening the lid on their box.

"Rise and shine Nellie!" she said cheerfully into the box.

"Oh... Morning!" Nellie responded with equal amounts of cheer, sitting up to the severe surprise of the rest of team!

"Whoa! W-what?" Mell exclaimed as the twins gasped. "Oh, Nellie, it's you! How'd you get in here?!"  
"Nanta asked if I'd help a little after you introduced us! Plus they said we could bring whatever would fit in the box after all!" she told them cheerfully. "You need a hand with anything?"

"Yeah, we need to send a couple of messages and we can't risk giving away our location. Can you help?"

"Sure! They've been probing away all match but I can hold off a few young Eldar Psykers in my sleep-literally! They don't even know I'm here, let along intercepting a message! Just speak away and I'll transmit!"

"Ok! Snake Team, this is Wolf team, can you call artillery on our location?" Nanta asked.

"W-wolf team, is that you? Where-?" came a rather baffled reply from Baal. Or rather, Baal's voice replied-despite coming out of Nellie's mouth. The effect was rather disconcerting.

"Long story, we've got a psyker, we're using them to talk with you without alerting the Eldar. Can you call in artillery support?"

"No can do Wolf Team, our basilisk was disabled. Kaise's hanging onto the bottom of one of their tanks to act as a spotter!"

"Hanging-what?!" Tori exclaimed, baffled.  
"Hanging on, she's underneath it!"

"S-she's crazy! What-I-WHY?!"

"Never mind why, where is she?" Nanta cut in.

"I dunno, just that she was on the way to rat team! Anyway you gotta warn them!"

"I will. Get yourselves to safety, we'll take it from here. Nellie, can you reach Rat team?"

"Sure sure, I'll warn them. Heads up though-that other walker is moving."

She was right. Despite having no way to see them from the back of the tank, the walker was indeed moving in on them, firing shot after shot at their location.

"Alright, they're past us! Scorpion team, we're moving in to back up Wolf Team!" Kant called to the other Catachan, who responded with enthusiastic cheers as the Taurox jolted into motion.

"Understood Kant. What's our plan of attack?" Blue asked her from her spot in the turret.

"Apart from our lasguns, I can't see our weapons working underwater, we need to get the turret and side doors out of the lake. Susan, point us at the shallowest part of the lake you can find, full speed ahead! Everyone, once we're out the water, get those doors open and those guns firing!"

"Yes ma'am, full speed!" Susan replied, pushing both throttle levers forwards. The Taurox spun its tracks in the silt for a few moments before they bit into something more solid and the tank begun to move in earnest, headed for a nearby upward slope. With no map of the lake-bed Susan was having to go with her gut, but this time she had guessed right and their machine begun to pick up speed as the top of the turret breached the waterline! Squinting to see through the sudden torrents of water streaming down the windows, Susan gave a sudden squeak as she realised that she'd actually caught right up to the war walker they had been chasing and it was right next to them!

"Shoot, shoot, left side!" Kant cried out, having also spotted their target. Blue skewed the turret sideways, letting off a rattling burst of auto cannon fire but the walker had reacted as Susan slammed on the breaks, jumping backwards out of the way! The walker was moments away from firing when a burst of Heavy bolter fire detonated off it's front window and threw off it's shot, two beams of blue light splashing off the water in a burst of steam! Two of the Catachan had thrown open the left side door and turned their bolter against it, the turret still rotating to track their target but even as it did the walker begun to strafe, moving around to their right to avoid it!

"Other side, other side!" Kant called out as Susan threw the controls right to point their right side at the walker. Two more of it's crew threw open the hatch and brought their lascannon to bear, letting rip with a blazing red ray that sliced through the war walkers window and causing the pilot to duck as it sliced through both that and one of it's cannons, taking it clean off! Despite this, the walker fired again and the crew had to fling themselves back as the beam put a hole through both their lascannon and the side of their tank!

"Susan, forward at full speed! Get the melta to the rear!" Kant shouted over the chaos and the gunners practically jumped at the opportunity, one slamming open the hatch as the other hefted the gun up.

"Take this pointy!" they called as the melta kicked in! With a wave of heat Susan could feel even at the front of the Taurox a flaming ray bloomed from the melta's barrel, splashing against the walkers hull! Within seconds the walker's body began to glow as the pilot tried to move but he was too slow and the legs locked up, controls melted! With few other choices, the pilot jumped into the lake, just before the Walker itself collapsed behind them.

"Commander, the walker unit has... has been knocked out." the Eldar pilot called over the radio.

"Knocked out? KNOCKED OUT?! Agh, you're all useless! Do I have to win this whole fight myself?! What's going on today?!" Commander Qu'seen's angry voice yelled back, causing the pilot to wince.

"Face it. The Mon-keigh... no, the humans have us outmatched today." came a third voice over the radio, the voice of Commander Ynsil. "They have clearly had a better strategy for today's battle. They have managed to evade us and to out-endure us, and they have prepared better. They've even seemingly predicted that we would use our psychic abilities to intercept their transmissions and kept them to a minimum. Our remaining units will have to work together if we wish to turn this match around-in other words, despite what you all might think, we're going to have to actually try now. I am taking command of this fight from now on, all remaining units sound off and head to this location. We are going to start by disabling their super heavy."

"This is Falcon team, we are fully operational. One Mon-keigh tank knocked out so far."

"Qu'seen here, my walker is unsurprisingly still working." her voice answered, dripping with sarcasm. "Who gave you the right to take over Ynsil?"

"You all did with your incompetence. Very well, we have most of our heavier units left at least. Be ready. That tank will not go easily, we have at least learned this much."

"We should be drawing near to their Fire Prism now. Is the auxpex sighting any targets?" Starsaky asked the others as their Taurox prime rumbled across the now shallow waters of the lake.

"Just our secret weapon. It's following at the set distance, all is well." Catch replied. "Though it seems fully possible they have stealth technology that would prevent us from spotting them at range. If you could observe and signal us if you see it?" she asked their third member, who nodded then opened one of the side doors to look out.

"And the controls for that are still working fine?" Starsaky asked her.

"Yes, all functioning. I believe the machine spirits are exited!" Catch replied cheerfully. "After all, it was not expecting to take place in this match at all!" Two of her mechanical tendrils were holding a pair of joysticks steady while a small viewing screen displayed a rough radar map of the nearby area, a small green dot following the other green spot that was themselves. Suddenly, their third member let off a burst of bhinaric, a clear warning and gestured to the others. To their left, about two hundred meters off the Fire prism had come into view from behind one of the many stone ridges!

"Target sighted!"  
"I see it Catch. Do not lock missiles yet, Kangaroo team warned us to keep out of sight and I intend to do so until we have a guaranteed shot! Keep moving forward!"

"Understood!" Catch called back, trying to accelerate-but the engine gave a sudden bang and the tank lurched sideways!

"No, not now, they'll hear!" Starsaky yelled over the sudden racket the engine was now making, misfiring constantly as the gearbox made a horrific grinding noise! "That's it, we're using the-look out!"

She had called out just in time and thankfully the slipping Taurox suddenly decided to listen once again as Catch desperately slammed the controls forward. A beam of light flew from the Eldar tank-though this one was red, and far more intense than the starcannons! It tore into their side right where the engine had been moments before, slicing horizontally as their tank moved! Catch flashed green, her shield phasing her our of reality as the beam passed through where she was sat but the beam continued, passing out the back of their taurox and taking the rear door with it!

"Get us to cover, now!" Starsaky called out and Catch didn't need telling twice, but even as they reached the shelter of a towering stone pillar the engine failed completely!

"01001001 01110100 00100111 01110011 00100000 01101110 01101111 00100000 01100111 01101111 01101111 01100100 00101100 00100000 01110111 01100101 00100111 01101100 01101100 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110110 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110101 01110011 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01101111 01110110 01100101 01110010 01110010 01101001 01100100 01100101 00100001 00100000 01010100 01101000 01100101 01110010 01100101 00100111 01110011 00100000 01101110 01101111 00100000 01101111 01110100 01101000 01100101 01110010 00100000 01101111 01110000 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100001" their third member called.

"You are correct. May the Omnisiah forgive us..." Starsaky agreed. "Activating machine spirit override!" she said as she withdrew a scrappy looking device from their storage box. Her hands in front of her in a position of prayer, her mechanical tendrils slammed the device against the still exposed control panel, splicing in wires and screwing it into place of the original cover.

"Are... are you certain Starsaky?" Catch asked nervously. "I mean, if the other priests find out about that thing-" but she was cut off. Another ray from the Fire Prism had struck the far side of the pillar and cut so far into it that the stone had glowed white hot!

"There's no time! Activating scrapcode-aggghhhhhhhhHHHHH!" Her voice rose to a half human, half digital scream as lines of text cycled past her eyes. The machine spirit override was Starsaky's magnum opus, the pinnacle of everything she had tried to learn about the nature of the machine spirit. The idea was to temporarily drown out it's voice, essentially forcing through so many instructions that the machine had no choice but to react as intended-and it was utter tech heresy. While the mechanicus now allowed some degree of experimentation and actual learning thanks to the emperor's orders, this would definitely be crossing a line. Execution, and complete melting down of the bodies of all three and everything they had built would follow immediately if any of the other Tech adepts were to find out what she had made. But, though she hadn't felt the sensation for a long time, Starsaky was scared. She didn't understand their shields at all and though she hated to admit it, was deathly afraid they wouldn't work at all when push came to shove and she actually needed it-and the Eldar had already put a massive hole in them once. Using the override was their best chance here.

But the sensation now coursing through her was worse than the fear. She'd written the code specifically to work with herself, allowing her to essentially think the commands, and in theory, control whatever the override was connected to. What she hadn't expected was the pain and noise! Her body was burning down one side and her back had a horrible hollow pain as if a piece of it had been ripped out! Worse, there was an unearthly mechanical scream that tore through her, ceaselessly roaring with pain, madness and anger!

"Damn-damnit! Listen to me! You have to listen to us or we'll both be scrapped!" Starsaky called out, no longer sure if she was yelling in real life or just in her head! Reality seemed to be slipping somewhat-like her tracks-no, the tank's tracks-or are they...

"Starsaky? Starsaky, what's going on?" came another voice, one she did not recognize, but it seemed to snap her back to her senses for a moment.

"Who-I-what?"

"I'm Nellie, I'm with Wolf Team, I'm psychic! What's going on? Your thoughts are going crazy, and so loud I could hear them from over here! I wasn't even looking for them! Are you badly hurt?"

"I'm-I'm fine, I... we..."

"Is someone else in your head? What's happening?"

"I'm-t-trying to get this Taurox to listen, it won't... I can't...who... am... I?..."

"It's overwhelming you! Hold on, I'll just-"

There was a pop that Starsaky felt as much as heard. Her thoughts seemed to solidify at this, and she suddenly found she could see properly-but there was another person with them in the tank!

"Who-who are-" she began to ask as the figure gave a little wave and a cheerful grin that was missing a tooth.

"Nellie, hi! I'm not actually here-I'm in your head, in a sense. You were starting to loose yourself there! What on Terra are you doing in here?"

"Will you swear to tell no-one? Not even the commander?"

"I-well, that's an odd request, but alright."

"I built a device to override machine spirits-I had hoped to never have to use it but this Taurox is fighting us at every turn and I fear we will be knocked out because of it... I fear that... that we might..."

"I know." Nellie finished for her. "I can bolster your mind from here-keep it from slipping. I've never tried to commune with a machine spirit but it is clear they are very strong minded, or at least this one is anyway. Just keep doing what you're doing!"

"I-Understood! Catch, ready the targeting auspex! When I drive us out from around this corner, fire off a missile at that tank! In addition, ready our backup weapon, we may need it as a distraction!"

"You-you can control it now? You think it will listen?"  
"Yes, I believe so but that might not last! Get ready!"

At this, Catch quickly moved herself over to the launchers controls and begun to tap in instructions.

"Ready!"

Their third member also chimed in at this point, beginning a repeating chant to the Omnisiah for optimal efficiency and taking over the remote control Catch had been working. Starsaky threw the controls forward then pulled them back and the Taurox lurched out of cover, just as another beam cut through the weakened pillar and straight through where they'd been moments before! The Taurox ground round with a rumble of complaint that Starsaky could feel in her very soul but Nellie's assistance was keeping it from being anything worse. Moments later, one of it's 3 missiles remaining missiles soared out across the lake, skimming low to the surface as it rocketed towards it's prey!

"I think we have them!" Catch called out but she spoke too soon. The eldar tank fired again but this time the blast was a full spectrum of light that bloomed out like a shotgun! Though the refracted beams did not come close to threatening Horse team, it hit the missile which detonated in mid air!

"No good, ready another shot! Is our backup here yet?"

"01001001 01110100 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101001 01101110 00100000 01101100 01101111 01100011 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01100010 01100101 01101000 01101001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01101001 01110010 00100000 01110100 01100001 01101110 01101011 00100001" came the response and Starsaky gave a predatory grin.

"Alright, we've got them! Get the crane on their back, their attention is fully on us, and lock both missiles!"

"Both?"

"Yes both, we're going to need everything we've got left!" Starsaky answered despite the look of confusion on Catch's face. Behind the Fire prism, under the water's surface Horse team's backup moved into place. They had rigged up their Trojan to work under remote control and, though Dullahan was not actually aware, had managed to get it approved for the battle despite it's lack of crew. With the remote able to fit in their box, it was technically match legal. The eldar would have picked it up on radar had it been above the surface and would have seen the crane periscope it's way through the relatively shallow water anyway-but it's low profile kept the rest of it hidden and they were looking completely the wrong way. Working with her eyes at maximum magnification, their third member attempted to hook the Trojan's crane onto the Fire prism, but the smooth surface made this difficult and it bounced off twice!

"No good, she can't get a grip-look out!" Catch suddenly yelled in panic but Starsaky had also seen the ray approaching and swerved the Taurox, but it was a little slow. Exhausts, side door and one of their lasguns were melted to scrap in barely a second as it struck and water gushed in up to their waists, electrical components sparking in complaint!

"Damnit! The override's failing-never thought to waterproof it-I can feel this thing trying to take control again!" Starsaky had to yell over the sudden rushing of wind, water and mechanical screaming suddenly emanating from her own speakers, forced through by the angry machine.

"We've got to fire now, we won't last much longer!" Catch called, now able to see that the blast had also damaged their tracks and praying that they'd hold out.

"Yes, do it! You've got to get that crane attached! Fire one!"

Another missile soared out from their launcher as their friend worked the Trojan's controls in a frenzy, the crane swinging back and fourth in an attempt to attach onto the tanks smooth sides but to no avail.

"Fire two! You've got to make this work now!"

Their third member no longer had teeth, her true face replaced long ago by the armored metal shell that now made up most of her body but if she had she would have clenched them tight enough to break! The Trojan continued it's efforts but the Fire Prism just didn't have anything obvious to catch on-and then she had an idea. As the first missile was intercepted and blew up in a cloud of black smoke that temporarily hid her view of the Trojan she jammed the controls sideways, then forward and the Trojan rammed the side of the Eldar tank! The crane arm smashed into the hull as the cable was suddenly let loose and flew forward-then straight back into the tank's air intake! The adamantium cable pulled tight as the engine sucked it in, made a horrible screeching, rattling noise-then exploded out the rear in a cloud of blue smoke shot through with electrical bolts! The Fire Prism let off another shotgun-like blast of refracted light but it had already started to skew sideways with one engine out of action and it missed it's chance to intercept! The last of Horse Team's missiles flew straight and true, striking the other engine and detonating! For a moment, the blast appeared to have done very little-but then there was another explosion and the tank split voiolently in two as it's fuel supply went up, the crew thrown out on ejector seats!

"Did-did we do it?" Starsaky asked, barely able to hold together anymore, the screeching in her head having long since passed deafening levels for an un-altered human.

"Yeah, we did it!" cheered Catch as she pulled out the override's cable and hugged Starsaky! Starsaky herself gave a groan of relief as the effects cut out, almost as suddenly as they'd begun. She was back in her own body and the still entirely human parts of her brain greatly appreciated this. "But this? Too dangerous to use again. If anything, it might be best..."

"Yes, I think... I think I agree." Starsaky muttered quietly, distractedly returning Catch's celebratory hug. "We'll find one of the deep spots and throw it in after the match. I still have the blueprints in my notes, it is not as if I could not replicate it, but in it's current state this thing is unusable. We barely got a couple of minutes use out of it and I fear had our new Psyker not come to my aid..."

She left the rest of the sentence unfinished. Catch was the first to notice the sudden silence a few moments later.

"Our engine has stopped..."

"Yes, I cannot imagine it's machine spirit is at all pleased at us." Starsaky responded, experimentally poking the starter button. Nothing happened whatsoever, the engine did not even attempt to turn-over. "Even though we have succeeded... I think we are out."

(Authors Note: Yeah, the story's not dead once again! Crazy right? I'm up at uni once again now and I'm feeling a bit of a Warhammer resurgence, not at all hurt by the fact I actually have people to play it with for the first time in a whole year! Since I have a fair bit of spare time, I'll keep working on this, won't make any promises about how often new parts will come out but I can almost guarantee the wait won't be quite so bad next time! As for responding to reviews, Thanks for the heads up Ender. With most weapons, I'd have a good-ish idea of how strong they are but for the Eldar I don't even have a codex to go by so I'm having to take a best guess off the wiki! I also actually saw the Vyper's model IRL recently and it's a lot smaller than I expected so that probably explains that one. Hopefully all the continuity's holding together, I have to keep going back to remind myself of things or looking at my notes as it's been such a long time since the last one! As a bit of a question to you all out there though, which bits of the story do you prefer? Do you like the more slice of life-ish segments outside the battles, like Dog team's antics and such, or the actual tank battles? Or both perhaps? If there's a strong preference one way or the other I'll focus on one in particular, otherwise I'll keep going as planned. Next time on Girls Und Warhammer: The Eldar's last stand! The Wraithknight marches fourth!)


	11. The Eldar's Last Stand!

**Girls Und Warhammer 40k**

 _ **Chapter 11:The Eldar's Last Stand! The Wraithknight Marches Fourth!**_

"Well my wonderful assistant, I think it's about time to take scope of the remaining forces in this match! In a surprise turn the Eldar have taken dire losses against our little local girls! Though they haven't escaped losses themselves they've taken out many more of the foe than they themselves have lost, good work on all sides! Remaining on the Eldar side is a Wraithknight, a Falcon and a Night spinner with a broken turret! Meanwhile for the Guard team, Rat team's Banehammer, Wolf Team's Russ, Scorpion Team's Taurox and Dog Team's Devil dog are all still functional, though Dog team are noticeably missing-could something have happened to them? You'll just have to keep watching folks! That's not optional by the way folks, this vox-pict cast IS mandatory for all imperial citizens able to watch it!" Kese spoke over the vox.

"Excellent!" Nanta called to the tank members. "We finally know what their forces are! They've got a Wraithknight, a Falcon and a Night spinner that's pretty badly damaged. That's only three machines left to beat and we've still got Rat team as our ace!"

But Kelly looked far from happy about this, rather very concerned.

"Nanta, you know what a Wraithknight is right?"

"Ah, I assumed it's like one of these walkers is it not?"

"Unfortunately for us it's not. It's the Eldar equivalent of an Imperial Knight!"

Nanta's expression was now very close to Kelly's. "It's that big?... Do you know anything more about it?"

"Well, my Eldar knowledge isn't great but it's basically a Knight, only faster. Though their ranged weaponry is comparatively weak compared to say, a Thermal Cannon our equivalent might field, they're built for melee combat and they can move with more agility than even the Tau's battle suits despite being significantly larger than the ones we fought."

"Damn... those things were fast enough already but even though this thing's bigger it's still faster?... What about the other two? The falcon and the Night spinner?"

"Well, if the night spinner's turret is down it shouldn't be an issue, they're very much focused around their main gun. They fire these sharp webs, they're mostly anti infantry. If that was was working it could maybe foul our tracks and secondaries but without that I can't see it being a threat. As for that Falcon I guess you'd call it their standard tank? It's fast, decently armored and mounts a fairly strong gun."

"I see... it sounds as if that Wraithknight will be our biggest threat. The Falcon will probably be acting as an escort, while the Night spinner... Well I don't know. It could run for the edge of the battlefield perhaps so it's harder for us to knock them out, or maybe scout for them? Anyway, our priority target is that Knight but without Rat team we've no good way to destroy it, if it's armor is as good as a Knight we'd want a whole squadron of Russ's with Vanquishers or Demolishers to take it down, even with our plasma sponsons set on supercharge I think we'd struggle."

"S-So what do we d-do?" Mell asked.

"I think firstly we catch up to Rat team. They're on their own at this point, we have to back them up. Then, we'll use our same plan that we used on the Tau-only instead of scouting for our artillery we'll scout for Rat team and try to draw the Knight into range of it's main gun! That thing messes the ground up like crazy so if we can get that knight mired in the earth we can shell it from safety! Well, relative safety... As for the others if we find them first we'll try to fight them one on one, make it seem like we found them by accident."

"Do you want me to relay that to the others?" Nellie asked, making Sally jump as she'd forgotten she was there.

"Please do. Tell Rat team to look out, if that thing finds them first..."

"Alright Nellie, we hear you." Bea responded. "I'll relay the plan to Midge, we'll follow out your plan. Good luck!" she finished, before explaining to her commander.

"They're looking after us now? What kind of tank do they think we're in?" Midge half laughed. "Though, I suppose we have taken some damage. Speaking of, Jade, how's our tank looking?" she asked the Techpriest, who had to had to extract herself from the mess of cabling that had been Midge's command console before answering.

"Wrath is still mostly functional. Her engine is down maybe 18% of it's normal motive force but I expect that we can still move at full speed on the flats, even with the water. We've developed leaks yes, but most of the interior is at least semi waterproof. I estimate we could spend another hour in water before major failures but I cannot say for certain. Your command console is badly damaged-I've repaired the internal Vox but remote sponson controls and your holo-map are dead, they'll need replacing." Jade replied in her synthesized voice.

"So we're good to go?"

"Almost. The engines of these machines are normally completely water sealed, they have to be-but ours has a hole running it's length. If the water gets into there it'll fail very fast."

"So I need to stay out the deep water then?" Bluebottle chimed in from her driving seat.

"Yes, exactly."

"Alright. Head for that island there, we'll be more of a target but the line of sight is pretty good and that big wall of rock protects us from attack at that angle."

"Rodger!" Bluebottle called before setting the might tank in motion once again. It rumbled forward, pulling itself up onto the island and into the shelter of the ragged line of boulders. Bluebottle was focused hard, trying to sense if the tank was reacting as expected. All seemed well in movement but it's engine misfired every now and then, and it definitely did not sound right.

"Sound off. Any sign of the enemy?" Midge called.

"Bluebottle here, nothing out front."

"Bea here, nothing on auspex but I can't see behind those rocks so who knows?"

"Jade, no enemies in the engine room."

"CRUNCH... HERE... NO... POINTY...ONES..." Crunch's voice rumbled through the tank, barely needing her vox-set.

"Jessica, nothing visible from the main gun sight."

"Cathrine, nothing in sight of the left side flamer."

"Kelsie here, no-wait, hold on! I see something on our right side through a gap in the rocks!"

"What?!" Midge called back. She scrambled for the ladder to get a better view, though as she reached it Crunch reached up to open the hatch and lifted her bodily up through it.

"Whoa! Easy Crunch-thanks though, I can see much better from here! Right, let's-it's the Knight!" she exclaimed, and she was right. Through the gap in the rocks, she could see it charging through the water towards them, running right at the rock face.

"Uh, are they planning to smash through the rocks? They're as thick as our tank!" Midge asked confusedly. "Besides, they can't possibly have seen us while they're moving like that... what are they planning to do?..."

"GO... OVER?..." Crunch suggested slowly.

"Over-GET ME BACK IN THE TANK QUICK!" she suddenly called out, realizing just in time what was about to happen. Crunch quickly lifted her down and not a moment too soon. As the Wraithknight reached the rocks thrusters on it's torso fired as it crouched and the massive knight lept skywards! It tipped forwards as it lept, but it gracefully grabbed the rocks with it's lengthy arms, and pushed off, moving into a flip! A second later it crashed down onto Wrath's roof! The huge feet crashed down and the tank's crew were temporarily deafened by the clanging! It's roof buckled under the weight as the bottom of the tank was hammered into the rocks, some of the tank's road wheels breaking from the force!

However, their being there had spoiled the Wraithknight's landing. Midge had been right, they hadn't been seen and the precise Eldar pilot had lept assuming a flat landing spot. One foot came down awkwardly on the case mate of the gun and it slipped like a man on a banana peel! It crashed onto it's back, coming to a rest against Wrath's hull. For a moment, the crew of Wrath were silent, temporarily stunned.

"WHAT ARE YOU ALL WAITING FOR?! GET US OUT OF HERE NOW!" Midge bellowed at her crew, who were all staring around dumbfounded. Bluebottle seemed to snap out of it first and threw the tank in gear and it surged forward, the Wraithknight on it's hull falling off as they did! However it seemed to have recovered and it clambered to it's feet, looking about to work out what had happened. It was at that point that it spotted Wrath, and turned towards it.

"It's seen us! Pull left, pull left! Flamers, Lascannons, open fire!"

The tank skewed around, faster than it was before thanks to the more solid ground. Bluebottle could feel the engine misfiring worse than ever but ignored it and kept turning!

"Take some of this!" Cathrine called from her spot in the sponson and opened up, twin jets of flame splashing against the Wraithknight's front as a blast of ruby light struck out from the Lascannon! But though it hit, the Wraithbone on the Knight's chest was strong and the gout of flames splashed off as the Lascannon merely glowed on the surface!

It was about then that Wolf team arrived. But they were too late. As Nanta turned, she saw Wrath attempting to turn and bring it's gun to bear. But as it did, it's engine suddenly let off a bang and black smoke billowed from it's exhaust! The damage and stress had finally overwhelmed it-and, with a sudden sinking feeling in her stomach, she realized what was about to happen. The knight covered the gap in seconds and with little fuss, jammed it's sword vertically into the tank's engine even as fire poured off it's front in torrents! The tank jolted, the engine blew out, then it fell silent. However, the knight seemed to have learned from Wrath's earlier berserk episode and stabbed it again, this time through the track on it's side. Despite it's incredible armor the Eldar's blade sliced through it like it was made of paper! Then, it stepped back, apparently surveying the scene.

"They got Rat team! Damn, what do we do now?" Nanta cursed, fists clenching.

"Do we attack? I mean they haven't seen us, if we could get a good shot..." Tori suggested, patting Nanta's shoulder in solidarity.

"I... I don't know at this point. Our whole plan was built on keeping them safe... although with where it stabbed them... Nellie, can you ask Rat team to confirm if their gun is damaged?'

"Sure! One moment... alright... just that? No, that's fine... got it! We're in luck! Their engine is completely shot and so are their tracks, but the gun is still loaded! They can't reload with the loading gear powered down but they can fire the shot they've got!" Nellie informed the others, her eye sockets glowing faintly behind her bandages.

"Alright, that's something... it's the only gun that can probably hurt that thing reliably, or at least mire it. Tell them to fire on the body the moment we lure it into their line of sight but to make sure they don't miss their shot! Also, if you could give Scorpion team an update and get them to meet us here?"

"No problem! Hey, this is kind of fun! It's like I'm a fully fledged team member already!" Nellie grinned back, before her eyes lit up again and she lapsed into concentration.

"Still, I wonder what happened to Dog team?..."

"Oi oi, what are we gonna do wiv' this mess?" Daisy mused. The three had been sitting on the shore for a while now, staring into the steady stream of bubbles coming up from their sunken Devil Dog. The Eldar walker pilots had also grouped up on the shore, the three of them staring at the small campfire one of them had started, looking pretty dire. They had, it seemed, not taken the loss well and the three could hear them arguing even from a distance.

"Well, not like we's can jus' drag it out. If we had Crunch with us..." Buttercup replied, looking pretty put out herself.

"Yeah, she's could do it but she's with the other ratlings right?" Tulip countered. She was holding her stun baton, flipping it end over end casually.

"Fraid so. Is there nothin' we can do now Daisy?" Buttercup asked her.

"W-well, there's ah... there's sommin' we's could try... But even for us it's a long ol' shot..." Daisy answered.

"We's can't lift our tank but that lot could." she explained, gesturing to the three Eldar. "Wot with all their psychic whatnot."

"Uh, yeah, I guess but ah... don't they hate us? I mean I did get one with the ol' fake out smooch, at the very least he's probably not gonna help... and you hit him in the back of the head too..."

"Ya know Tulip, you's is right but I ain' gonna let that stop me! We already messed things up for the commander earlier when we missed our shot, I wanna make things right an' I'm gonna at least try this!"

"Alright, Alright, we'll try it. At leas' we can just smack 'em around a bit if nothing else works!" Buttercup sighed, resigned to the plan.

"OI OI! You's lot! Yeah you!" Daisy called as she wandered lazily towards the group. "Give us an 'and wiv' gettin' our tank out o' the water will ya's?"

The three Eldar looked surprised for a moment-then dumbfounded.

"You-you're-I don't even think I know how to respond to that!" the pilot Tulip had headbutted earlier spluttered, getting to his feet.

"Why would we ever help you? Our team's still in the fight!" one of the others asked angrily, also standing. Daisy was about to speak, but Tulip cut her off.

"Well, it's pretty embarrasin' how you's went down after all. I mean's down in the underhive tha's one of the oldest tricks in tha' book!"

"So?!"

"So, it'd be pretty embarrasin' if say, I was to spread tha' word. I mean I could just tell tha' commentator Kese and he'd definitely make sure that ended up in the report after the match. Everyone would know..." Tulip replied, a coy grin on her face, hands casually held behind her back.

"Yeah, and I mean even if ya' don't care about the normal folk's laughing at ya's what would your commanders think if they's found out you lost to little old us like that?" Daisy added, catching on to Tulip's plan and winking pointedly at the Pilot. "Why they might even start sayin' you's enjoyed it..."

"ALRIGHT, THAT'S IT!" the pilot yelled and lunged forward but one of the others held him back.  
"Honestly Ooraan, you really let the Mon-kiegh rattle you that badly? C'mon, you're embarrassing us!" the pilot holding on told him. "I know we're on boarding rules but they've already beaten you once, besides there's no point fighting them now, it won't make any difference!"

But the third Eldar had actually started to laugh, practically doubling up with tears in her eyes!

"Ahaha! These are who we lost to? This is the funniest thing I've heard for a while, and now they're even blackmailing you Ooraan? You know what, I like you three!" she told them, still laughing.

"Hah, well, we do try!" Daisy smiled back, this time winking at her.

"You know what? I'll do it! I'll use my power to drag your tank out of the lake. Buuuut there's one extra condition."

"Eh? You will? Wait, what's the condition?" Buttercup asked, surprised at this response.

"If you make it through to the later rounds, keep making me laugh as much as you have today! This squad is so dour most of the time, constantly arguing. I could use a laugh or two!" she said simply. Then, she wandered towards the lake as her friend continued to struggle in their fellow pilot's arm.

"Oi oi, Don't ya' be worryin', if ya friend really does do us a solid I won' tell a soul." Daisy told the angry pilot. "On me honour, honest!" she added. She spat on her palm and held it out to him.

"What is this? You insult me further?!" he asked angrily, staring at her hand.

"Wot? Nah, ya' do the same then shake it, it's like a promise ya know?" Daisy told him, gesturing once again. The Eldar seemed to calm down a bit, and their friend gently released their grip.

"You promise?"

"Yeah, course! C'mon I ain' got all day, I gotta tank ta' captain!"

The Eldar paused for a moment. Then, seeming to make up their mind, they spat on their hand, and shook.

"There ya go! That ain' so 'ard now is it? Right, we're keepin' it secret girls, cap'in's orders eh?"

"Aye cap'in'!" Buttercup replied, with a sweeping bow and a cheesy grin. Then the three turned, in time to see the Eldar reach out an arm. The water churned where she gestured, then flowed outwards, exposing the layer of muck at the bottom of the lake alongside their tank sitting in it. Water began to pour out the holes in it's sides, but even as this happened it's hull shone with light and the tank begun to grind into movement. Barely half a minute later, it had passed the water line and rested on the shore. The three ran up to it and begun to open the various hatches on it's sides, which slammed open as they did, water blasting out.

"Hey, ah, thanks, ya really did help us out!" Tulip told the pilot. "What's ya name?"

"Lyreen. Yourself?"

"Tulip. Maybe I'll see ya round some time eh? We can go get drinks together!"

"Hah, well, we'll see on that one eh? And don't got forgetting that deal, go show me a good time!" she replied, waving at her as she climbed the side of the now mostly drained Devil Dog. As she entered, she found Daisy trying to start the engine, as Buttercup stuffed rags in the holes in their tank, attempting to render it at least somewhat water-tight. This did however mean that the two inches of water in the bottom of the tank couldn't drain, but the three had put up with worse. At least, they thought, it was only water this time.

"Damn you, start already! We's didn' go doin' all that just for ya to play up on us!" she shouted at it as it refused to budge.  
"I'll get it Daisy. Them techpriest's over in horse team taught me a trick ta this!" she told her, moving down into her now thoroughly sodden seat. "Alright, here we go..." she mumbled, putting it in gear. Then, she held down the ignition key, for much longer than normal. The tank made a grinding sound of complaint as the starter motor gradually drove it forwards, water sloshing from the tanks exhausts-but about five seconds later one cylinder cleared and fired up, which set off the next and suddenly the engine was running!

"Aha, looks like they were right on tha' money! Buckle up girls, we's goin' ta help the others!"

Meanwhile, Scorpion team's Taurox was rolling up besides Wolf team. Blue popped open the hatch, and called over to Nanta who was also looking out, surveying the situation.

"Commander Nanta, we're all here! What can we do to help?"

"Oh, Commissar Blue! Ah, we're still working on that. I want to try and draw the Wraithnight into range of Rat team's main gun, but I'm not sure how to do it. It's been waiting by them for a while, I think it's either trying to lure one of us in or waiting for scouting reports from the Falcon."

"I see. Well, you are the Commander here, so it's up to you. However I will suggest that since it's armed primarily with a close range weapon, so possibly just driving out in front of it might be enough to draw it out if we could knock out it's ranged weapons."

"It's dangerous... I'm not sure I can ask you to do that..." Nanta replied worriedly. Though Blue's plan made sense she knew there was a lot of info they simply didn't have.

"On the contrary. As the head commander, you're well within your right to sent us all to our deaths. So long as you achieve victory." Blue spoke with complete certainty as she said this. "Though I would normally outrank you, even as a full commander, for now my orders are that you are in charge and I will follow your orders to the letter. And my crew will too."

"You can count on us Nanta, even if it is dangerous!" Kant told her, her head suddenly coming into view in the Taurox's side window.

"Alright. There's a lot that we don't know but at this point I don't see any better option. If we don't fight here, then we won't have Wrath's tremor cannon and without that I'm not certain we can hurt that thing. Scorpion team, can you lure that thing out in front of them? You'll be under fire from it's guns, and it's really fast so you'll have to move quickly. We'll have to stay here, if that knight sees us it'll change target to us immediately, I'm sure. We'll be watching for the Falcon, and we'll get Rat team ready to shoot. If all goes wrong, at least we can take a shot or two at that thing before it sees us."

"We'll do it! We've got some weapons after all, perhaps we can knock out their own guns before they fire!" Kant replied before even Blue could speak. "You two, bring the Lascannon to the roof hatch! You, get the Melta to the back, and heavy bolter, right side door! You're going to provide fire to try and dazzle them-aim for the face if you can! Lascannon gunners, Melta gunners, you'll aim for their weapons. Take them out and do so before they hit us, got it?"

There was a cheer from her crew and seemingly a great deal of movement as the crew reshuffled, the doors and hatches opening up and the crew bringing their weapons to bear.

"Alright, say the word Nanta! You ready to go Susan?"

"Y-yeah!" Susan answered, trying to cheer but faltering slightly. She was worried about the transmission sent earlier, wondering what had happened to Dog team. But, she knew she'd have to focus, and bent down slightly in her seat, readying the Taurox to move.

"Alright. Good luck Scorpion team! Ok, GO!"

The Taurox's tracks span up and it lurched out of the tree-line and into the water with a crash of water! It was shallow and the Taurox picked up speed quickly, surging out towards the island!

"Heavy bolter, open up!"

The two gave a roaring battle-cry that was thoroughly drowned out as the bolter opened up! The distinct triple-bang of the bolter filled the air as the bolts blasted out, rocketing across and exploding on the torso and faceplate of the Wraithknight! The Eldar pilot was swift to react, turning to face the speeding Taurox and firing-but as it did, the Lascannon fired too! It's aim was true and it struck the left cannon, which exploded from the excess energy! The Wraithknight skewed sideways and the blast swept across the Taurox! Though it missed the core of the tank it still sliced the roof right off, several of the crew's shields glowing as it swept through them! The Lascannon crew crashed awkwardly to the tank's now exposed deck as the roof slid off and the Melta gunners opened fire! The powerful beam struck well in the center of it's chest but as the Lasgunners landed they hit the meltagunners and their weapon was dropped right off the side into the water! Susan threw the steering wheel sideways and the Taurox leaned as it turned, threatening to fall but holding steady and making a sprint for the front of Wrath! Catherine, who was watching from the open sponson hatch on Wrath's side called to the others, readying them to fire!

"Alright, alright, this is working! I think we're gonna do it!" Tori cheered, and Nanta grinned.

"Nearly there! Just a little further Scorpion team!" she called to them as the Wraithknight moved into a terrifying run, barreling down on it's prey! It's gun charged once more, and fired straight into the Taurox's engine! It ground to a halt, suddenly dead in the water!

"All crew, abandon tank NOW!" Kant yelled at the others. They didn't need telling twice and leapt out over the now open sides of the tank, splashing awkwardly into the shallow water and scrambling away! The Wraithknight raised it's sword, ready to strike...

"FIRE!" Midge roared at Jade, who had moved over to the gun.

"Firing!" she called. Wrath kicked as it's immense cannon fired! She'd lined up the shot perfectly on the back of the Wraithknight...

...but before it could strike, there was a flash of red! The Night Spinner had appeared out of nowhere from behind the rocks! It's psychically aware crew knowing what was about to happen, it had flown straight across the empty space between the Wraithknight and the Banehammer with impossibly good timing-and the shell struck it! Though there was simply not enough mass in the now rapidly disintegrating Night Spinner to stop the shell, it was enough to re-direct it! The shell, rather than striking it's back, hit the shoulder of the Wraithknight! With an ear splitting bang it detonated, the tough Wraithbone setting off the shell that normally wouldn't detonate until far underground! The shock wave alone was enough to pick up Scorpion team's crew and toss them across the lake like skipping stones! With a metallic roar of pain it stumbled, one arm blown off, spiraling across the air! The massive walker staggered sideways, sword coming down right on top of the already damaged Taurox to steady itself!

"No good, repeat no good! We didn't hit it!" Kant called out over her helmet vox-set as she ran for cover with the others behind the nearby boulders.

"Damnit! Mell, open fire on that thing! Hit the shoulder! Sally, Anne, set your guns to supercharge! Bring down that Wraithknight!" Nanta called to her crew, and the Russ opened up with every gun it had! The Wraithknight was staggered again as the main gun hit it, then had to sheild it's face with it's remaining arm as two white hot balls of plasma struck it with a blinding flash of light!  
"Kelly, a-another shell, q-quick!" Mell called but Kelly was already on it, slamming another shell into the breach.  
"Fire at will! Tori, get us closer! We need to do everything we can to get our main gun to punch through!"

"Rodger!" Tori called and the Russ ground forwards! Their training was paying off as the Russ quickly accelerated, moving diagonally to get at the Knight's weak-side but it's pilot was wary now and it kept the damaged side away from the Russ as a second, then a third volley of fire from the tank struck it!

"I don't get it, why isn't it fighting back?" Nanta asked as the rest of the tank continued to open fire! "What's it waiting for?!"

But she got her answer moments later. Nellie suddenly spoke up in Kaise's voice, making the others all jump!

"Nanta, it's Kaise! That Falcon is on the way!"

"What? From which angle?!"

"One sec-right-your right side!"

"Kaise, jump clear! Tori, turn right, turn right!"

Tori obliged as the Russ began to slew sideways, Mell turning the turret to face the Falcon! They could see Kaise drop off, curling into a ball as she fell and splashing down into the lake, but the Falcon didn't stop and fired! Their left sponson was struck and the plasma gun detonated, Sally giving a surprised cry as her shield flared up! Even as that happened, Anne gave a yell from the other side of the tank as steam suddenly blasted from several pipes and a warning siren sounded-the plasma cannon had gotten too hot and the vents had kicked in.

"Left sponson down!" Sally called as Anne reported the failure on her side too.

"Mell, hit that Falcon! Bring it down!" Nanta called, ignoring the others! She knew the Wraithknight should be her focus but if they didn't knock out the Falcon she knew it'd get them first! She had to risk it all on them being able to quickly change targets! Mell squeezed the trigger on the turret and with the usual blast of sound the shell was kicked out across the gap between the two tanks! Normally, the Falcon wouldn't have been in so close, but it's pilot had panicked and moved too quickly to back up the Wraithknigh. With no time to dodge even with their reflexes the shell scored a direct hit! For a moment it looked as if it hadn't done much but then fire blasted out the neat hole left by the shell and it plunged downward, splashing into the lake!

"Falcon down, Tori, Mell, left, left!"

But the order was too slow. Even as they turned the shadow of the Wraithknight was looming over them! It's blade was already in the air as they turned-and before they could so much as call out, it plunged straight down through their turret! The blade pinned the Russ in place for a moment, the crew temporarily paralysed with shock before it kicked out with one leg, smashing in the side of the Russ in and hurling it across the lake in a huge wave of water!

For a few moments, Nanta was simply stunned. Everything hurt and her vision was blurry. Their shields hadn't properly registered the hit either, since the impact had been too low energy to trigger them. Tori was lying on Nanta's stomach, breathing but not moving. Sally and Ann were tangled in the mangled mess that had been one of the tank's sponson guns, and Kelly and Mell had fallen amongst the ammunition storage at the back.

"O-ow! My leg-ah!" Nanta groaned. She couldn't see what had happened to it but it felt wet and hot, and she suspected she'd cut it on something. "Is-is everyone ok?"

There was the sound of four people groaning. It appeared the others were at least alive.

"W-what just h-happened?" Nellie asked from her box, which she'd been thrown back into in the crash.

"I-I don't know! I guess that Wraithknight got us..." Nanta replied, managing to lift herself slightly. Her leg was indeed bleeding but it didn't look as bad as she'd feared. One thing she did notice though was that everything seemed the wrong way up, and slightly tilted, the turret now sticking out from the floor, the seats on the ceiling. Water was beginning to trickle in from the damage in the hull.

"I guess... we lost?"

"My word folks, what a turn up for the books! It seems the Eldar have turned things around at the last second! Is this it for the locals?" came Kese's voice over their vox, though it was regularly interrupted by sounds of static from the damaged vox. "Wait, no, what's that?!"

"It-it's Dog team!" Kelly gasped. She'd managed to open one of the side hatches. From out of the lake Dog team's Devil Dog had suddenly appeared, grinding up the side of the island Rat team was resting on! It was leaking a considerable amount of water and it was belching black smoke but it was still moving!

"OI OI!" Daisy called out from the turret! The Wraithknight turned sluggishly, it's once near silent reactor now grumbling from the stress of the damage it had taken. "No-one kicks our mates! Take some o' these!" she called out, ducking back into the turret. The Wraithknight began to move forwards-but it was too late. Both the hull and turret Meltaguns opened up, and this time Dog team's aim was true! They struck the center of it's torso, the two blazing rays flaring where they struck! Though for a moment it looked as if it's armor would hold as the Wraithknight moved in, there was a sudden crack as it's chestplate spit from the broken shoulder right across it's torso! The beams burrowed into it as the walker staggered to a halt, fire billowing from it's joints!

"Burn 'em up girls!" Daisy called to her crew who called out in agreement! There was a burst of gas from the Wraithknight's head, before the face plate banged open and the pilot ejected out! The walker stood for a moment as the Melta's cut right through, blazing out the back of the walker! Then, very slowly, it toppled backwards, landing with a tremendous splash on it's back in the water!

"They-they did it! Dog team did it!" Susan cheered from nearby! "We won!"

(Authors Note: Ahh, after... far too long, the Eldar match is done! And, as hoped, with a bit less of a gap between chapters this time! The Eldar was my weakest aspect as far as 40k knowledge goes so hopefully I've done them at least some justice. The next army they'll be facing is one I'm quite a bit more familiar with but I won't spoil that surprise just yet! Next time on Girls Und Warhammer: Deep in the Underhive! Dog team's search for redemption!)


	12. Chapter 12

**Girls Und Warhammer 40k**

 _ **Chapter 12:Deep in the Underhive! Dog Team's search for Redemption!**_

"Well well folks! In the second turn-around this match, our local girls have done it again! Having been missing since the start of the match a sudden appearance from Dog team snatches victory from the jaws of defeat! Well I can't say I saw that coming! That's all for this match folks, the next match is scheduled to take place in six weeks time due to scheduling conflicts but I'll be back to commentate regardless-and rumors have it that there might be something special happening before then but you'll just have to wait and see on that one! I've been your Commentator Kese, and I'll see all you wonderful imperial citizens next time!" Kese's voice called out across the Stadium, and Wolf team's Vox. The crew of Wolf team were currently resting on the deck of the now open top Taurox that Scorpion team had been driving. Blue and Kant were talking to Rat team, who were looking over their now badly damaged Banehammer as the majority of Scorpion team exercised their first aid skills, tending to the members of Wolf team. One was stitching Nanta's leg up with dexterity she wouldn't have expected from such a heavily muscled girl. Meanwhile, Susan had headed out to Dog team's Devil dog, the only relatively un-damaged tank, though water was still leaking out the holes in it's hull.

"Oi oi, look sharp Buttercup, it's ya friend!" Daisy called from the roof hatch. A moment later, Buttercup climbed past her to see Susan smiling and waving up at them with her mechanical arm.

"Heeeey! I finally found you three!" she called. "Mind if I come on up?"

"Of course, up ya get!" Buttercup smiled back, giving her a hand as she clambered up the ladder onto the roof.

"I wanted to talk to you three before the match but I couldn't find you anywhere!"

"Ah? Ah, sorry there, we's don't normally stick aroun' much. The barracks ain' really our style ya' know?" Daisy apologized. "Besides not many of tha' others stick aroun' to talk to us usually."

"Actually, speaking of that..." Susan started to say, looking suddenly awkward.

"Oh, sommin' up?" Tulip asked her, picking up on the sudden change.

"Y-yeah. Did you steal the regiment's desert rations and sell them? Only they all went missing... and everyone's been saying it was probably you three..."

"They have?... did we do that? I don't think that was us?..." Buttercup asked the other two, looking confused.

"Hmm? Nah, we ain' stolen nothin' from any o' this lot! They already give us a bunch o' stuff for free, no need to steal any more! Besides even if we don' know 'em all that well they're still our mates right? We wouldn' steal stuff from 'em anyway!" Daisy grinned at the other two.

"Ah... I didn't think you would have but I wanted to be sure! Oh, and thank you for today! You got us another win!"

"Ah, no problem! Although ah... we did kind of screw up early on in the match... sorry about that..." Buttercup replied, looking embarrassed.

"Ah, it's fine, we won in the end so it's alright eh?" Susan replied, patting Buttercup on the back with her still human arm. "Oh, hey, isn't that Horse team? When did they bring the Trojan over?"

Horse team had appeared from behind the boulder line with a veritable convoy in tow! The Trojan's crane had been repaired already and behind it trailed the Taurox prime, Sarge's sentinel (which had it's broken legs tied onto the rather dented hull) and Snake team's Basilisk. All were in various states of disrepair but the Trojan was slowly towing them over nevertheless. Starsaky had her head out of the hatch, navigating for the others. Snake team had reconvened via a little help from Rat team and were staring glumly at their once pristine Basilisk, who's barrel now bent, it's hull pierced right through. Or rather, Kaise and Nairone were watching, Ball was instead lying down,staring un-seeingly at the sky.

"Dog Team! Get over here! I want a word with you!" came a sudden shout! Commander Dullahan had appeared on the battlefield driving a Venator Taurox that had the appearance of a military dune buggy.

"Ah? Aye Commander." Daisy answered, thoroughly confused.

"Look, you three. I'll be straight with you. You screwed up, badly. The Eldar, specifically a very angry war walker pilot, have reported to command about your getting their help to continue to fight. Now personally, I don't give a damn. In fact, I'm rather impressed that you managed to even do that and quite proud of the way you turned things around after your earlier failure. However, command are extremely angry. They're not happy about any of our number relying on the Xenos for help, and for reasons that still somewhat elude me some of command is already suspicious that you've been stealing rations. Is there anything you can tell me to disprove this? Or anything that you think might help your case?"

The three looked stunned.

"B-but we's did that so's we could win tha' match!" Tulip spluttered. " If we's hadn'..."

"I'm aware, Tulip. I'm on your side here. You three have plenty of rough edges as a tank crew but I can see you have promise, and that you mean well. Your actions in the first match proved as much." Dullahan replied in the most gentle voice they'd ever heard her use, gesturing to Buttercup's still bandaged arms. "But this could be serious. If the local ministorum branch finds out they might just decide to burn you all as heretics. Again, is there anything you could suggest to me?"

"...W-Well... if you's made a big show o' punishin' us yourself, perhaps ya could get us out of the mess we's found ourselves in?" Buttercup suggested timidly.

"Yes. Yes I'd thought about that one myself. But it'll be painful. And they'll take your Devil dog regardless, it has 'Xenos taint' (and at this Dullahan scoffed) on it now. They'll probably melt it down, or spend ages purifying it. And I doubt they'll supply you with a replacement. What do you two think of this?" she asked Daisy and Tulip. The two looked at each other, before Daisy spoke.

"We's could also hide down in the Underhive... they's probably wouldn' find us down there..."

"You could, but you'd be labeled as heretics. At the very least you wouldn't ever be able to show your faces above ground again. I could look into giving the three of you new identities but the others that know you would see through it in a heartbeat. Would you trust them all to keep your secret?"

"Of course... oh, but wait... didn' rat team go actin' a bit weird about us recently or somethin'?" Tulip asked.

"I heard sommin' about that yeah.. I dunno if I'd trus' them much." Dasiy replied. "Oi oi... I guess Buttercup's idea's all we's got... Tulip?"

"Sorry Daisy. I got nothin'." she replied gloomily.

"Ok. If I take charge of the flogging personally, which is what they'll give you by the way, I can go at least a little easier on you, but I won't be able to do much because they'd know. I'm sorry about all this. Though I'd have given you flak for screwing up early on, you definitely didn't deserve this."

Said flogging took place two days later. The three were lined up against a wall in the main barracks, their armor removed and each was flogged by Dullahan wielding a cruel lashed whip for fifteen minutes as the other tank crews watched on. They had no choice in this matter. At the end, they were ordered to leave, Dog team left to suffer alone.

However, the moment all the Ministorum representatives had left, a good portion of the crews returned immediately. Rat team was the only exception, as only Crunch and Jade had stayed.

"Are you alright?" Susan asked the three, holding up the severely weakened Buttercup. Though the three had been brave, they had been unable to keep quiet forever. Buttercup was crying pretty badly and her back was bleeding. Tulip was still on the ground, breathing erratically. Daisy's eyes were watering, but she'd been whipped first and had had the longest time to recover. She now knelt by her comrade, gently stroking Tulip's head with one hand and holding one of her hands with the other, speaking gently to her in an attempt to comfort her.

"It hurts... it hurts so bad!" Buttercup wept, holding as tightly as her currently limited strength would let her onto Susan.

"We'll get the Medicae. I can't believe you got put through that after you won us the match!" Susan replied, taking the blanket one of her crew had handed her and wrapping it around Buttercup's shoulders. "It's completely unfair!"

"It gets worse." Nanta said angrily. "Those thugs from the ministorum barged into the garage this morning and had your Devil dog towed, say they were going to 'purify it in flames from the xenos taint now infesting it'! What rubbish, that tank was fine!"

"Agreed." Nellie added, appearing by Nanta's side. "I sensed no residue from that Eldar's power."

"They's won't-agh!-won't care! This was all about the message!" Daisy groaned. "I ought beat the daylights outa-ow-ow-ow!-outa that Eldar!"

"What are you three going to do? I doubt they'll just replace your tank, but Dullahan always said if you don't have one you'll go on foot..." Nanta asked the three.

"D-don't worry about us commander! W-aaahhh, ow ow! We can find sommin', we's already got a lead on findin' another vehicle!" Daisy told her, trying to sound cheerful but her expression and the pained noises she made gave the truth away.

"Is there anything I could do to help?" Susan asked Buttercup,

"Thanks but you's would be in more danger than the rest o' us, it takes time to learn all the dangers down there." she replied, though it was clear from her tone she wanted to say yes. At this, the Medicae arrived and began to patch up the wounds in the girl's backs.

A day later the teams found themselves back in the briefing room.

"Well, to you all, good work once again. You've managed to pull off another win, though I'll say this one was much closer than I'd have liked. However, this one came with more severe damage to your machinery. Though I accept that it's probably unavoidable, if you could attempt to minimize this in future matches it would be greatly appreciated. That said, the damage report-this one's bad folks. Wolf team, left sponson destroyed, left side hull bent, turret and gun destroyed and a few broken road wheels. Scorpion team, unfortunately your Taurox is scrap at this point. That Wraithknight did so much damage to it that it's unrecoverable. Thankfully your Chimera you were meant to be operating is up and running once more, so you'll be back in that for the next match. Horse team, your Trojan-by the way, good move finding a way to get that into the match but please inform me next time-suffered damage to the crane. I believe you've mostly repaired this already, once again good initiative. As for your Taurox, cabin and doors damaged or destroyed, engine blown out. I understand it's machine spirit is still being stubborn?" she asked the three, who all nodded.

"Yes ma'am. It frequently refused our commands during the match or attempted to stop or go by itself. Frankly I am completely stumped as to why." Starsaky replied. She'd been unable to start the Taurox since the end of the match.

"I see. Until future notice, I'm re-assigning you back to your Trojan. While it may not be much of a combat asset it has proven itself at the very least more reliable. Ah, where was I?... Ah yes. Sarge, your Sentinel has suffered major damaged to the legs and Autocannon. Still, better than last time and for the kill you got in return I'd say it was well worth it. Rat team, perforations to cabin and engine, buckling to the superstructure, damage to multiple road wheels and suspension on both sides, severe damage to gun and right side tracks split. It's bad, but anything that could take out a Banehammer would have to be. Still I expect it will get priority repairs so do not worry too much. With your old Taurox out of action I'll try to find something else for you all to practice with in the meantime but I give no promises there. Dog team, you actually didn't suffer much damage but unfortunately the Ministorum has taken your Devil dog and indeed has stepped in to refuse any replacement vehicle. I have no way to intervene-you'll just have to do your best to find something combat ready before the next match, and I wish you luck in your efforts. You're excused from practice and drills until you find something, and in fact I'm making that your main task for now. Snake team, damage to your Earthshaker's barrel and your engine only. I understand that the same foundry that built your rather magnificent machine has taken it in for repairs personally. I do not blame you for being unable to protect it, but I might suggest a change in tactics to avoid this happening again." Dullahan finished, closing her notebook.

"Also, I have one other piece of news. Your next match is an exhibition match against another local team. It will not matter in terms of the tournament if you win or loose. However I expect you all to put in the same amount of effort IF NOT MORE than you have done so far. You will need to. Your next match is against the Snow Reapers. You lucky girls get to fight some real life Space Marines."

The room was stunned.

"Th-the space marines Ma'am?" Nanta asked, sure she'd heard wrong.

"Yes, the space marines, the real deal. I'm actually told they personally asked for this match, though I do not know why. Now, know this. The space marines are far beyond your abilities. Even a poor marine would be beyond even some of the best aces of the guard. They can react faster than you, they will fire more accurately than you and their tanks are fearsome. Any role one of our tanks would fill, they will have something that can do it better. And whatever weaker aspects they have they will be well aware of. Frankly, I do not think you have it in you to win. I'm sorry but it's the truth. However..." she trailed off, with a grin on her face. "However, I've said that in both of your previous matches and both times you have surprised me beyond my wildest expectations. You have proven that you have one advantage the other teams have not shown-you are unpredictable. You've pulled off incredible shots and maneuvers, and pulled trick after trick out of the bag. That's why I'm warning you now-those won't work on the marines, not on their own. They're incredibly adaptable and can react in a heartbeat-I should know, I've fought alongside them myself on campaign. Therefore, the focus for your upcoming training will be on the fundamentals instead-if your ordinary skills can be as good, you'll be a real force to reckon with. Here are the training plans. As usual I expect you to follow them to the letter. Dog team, get going. Though I'd like for you to participate in the next match I appreciate how long it could take for you to find a suitable machine, so you will not be punished if you miss the upcoming match. If you miss the next tournament match however I will flog the lot of you again, in earnest this time! You've been given a chance to prove yourselves, so get to it!"

"Oi Oi, how's things Chimney?" Daisy called to her friend. The three had started their search down in the market, and had pretty much headed straight for Chimney's stall.

"Hm? Ahh, you's three! How are ya's? I 'eard a rumor you's three got beaten pretty bad, did ya's get caught for stealin' sommin' or the like?"

"Hmm? Nah, we's tricked some o' them Eldar into givin' us a hand an' the blasted ministorum got mad at us."

"Ah those stuck ups. What does the emperor care how we's goes beatin' our foes, you won didn' ya?"

"Yeah that's what we tol' em but they didn' care." Buttercup replied grumpily. Her torso was now also wrapped in bandages as well as her arms and she was feeling unusually annoyed.

"Still, at least ya got ta' get looked afta' by that cute Catachan eh Buttercup? She like you ya know!" Tulip winked at her.

"Y-yeah, there was tha'... but I didn' exactly get ta' focus on that..." she replied, blushing slightly with a small smile returning to her face.

"Anyways. We's came down here ta ask ya if you's had found out anythin' more on that tank ya thought you'd found last time. Those priests took our Devil dog an' it looks like we ain' getting it back. We need a new machine and your find is our best bet at the moment!"

"Ah, I see. Well, I've been listenin' to tha' rumours as usual an' pinned down the spot a bit more so ya' should be able ta' find it but I'm afraid tha's all I've gathered on that one. Though ah... I did find sommin' else if ya interested?"

"Oh? Yeah, let's hear it if ya's gonna tell us for free!" Daisy responded eagerly. Anything would be better than the previous option, which they knew was deep within particularly dangerous cult territory.

"Well, it's a weird one. Ya know the slag sortin' plants? Well there's a rumor they found some kinda machine out there, just burred under the heaps for years! And you know what? They say it shines like gold!"

"Gold? Down 'ere? A whole tank?"

"Well, I dunno if it's a tank, but it's some kind o' vehicle. And yeah, jus' like gold! But o' course as soon as they foun' that out the cults dived in on it. An' even more interestin', guess who's gang got it?"

"Ah, down by the plant... the Bleeding hearts? The Skull crushers? Someone from the Iron houses?" Tulip guessed, trying to recall the various gangs in the area.

"Good try but nope. The Rat lords."

"Eh? Markov's gang? You're 'avin a laugh ain'cha Chimney? E's dead, Buttercup cooked 'im!"  
"Yeah he's dead but some of his mates ain't and one of 'em took over. I thought it'd be all over for 'em within' a week after Markov died but it looks like he was 'olding 'em back! They's been blowin' up in a big way since last time you'd been down here!" Chimney finished. "I saw their leader a couple days ago. Came strolin' though tha' market calm as anythin', looking for weapons an' armour. Had the money for it too. I reckon' he was getting' them specifically to take tha' plant and that golden machine. His face was burned right badly. That your fault?"

"Ah, coulda been. Either way I'm bettin' they's wouldn' be happy ta see us. I'll still take them on rather than dead territory though." Daisy responded, grinning at Chimney. "An' a golden tank? Can't think of a better ride!"

"Hello there Chimney-oh, it's you three!" came a familiar voice, calling across the marketplace.

"Oh, heya Blue!" Chimney called, waving out to the Commissar. She wasn't wearing her usual black coat and hat, instead having changed into what looked like workers overalls.

"It's good to see you Chimney! And I suppose it makes sense that you three would be here too." she told the three, who instinctively seemed to become more alert at her presence, standing up a little straighter.

"C-Commisar!" Daisy answered, trying to look serious.

"No need to worry, I'm strictly off duty. Chimney here is supposed to be taking me out on another date-I'm glad you three introduced me actually! How is your search going?"

"We's was about ta' set off actually! There's a rumor of a golden tank an' we's gonna be the one ta' find it!" Tulip told her confidently.

"Gold you say?... Could it be... well, that's impossible, it couldn't be that..." Blue mumbled quietly, apparently lost in thought for a moment. "Well, good luck either way!"

The three quickly progressed downwards. The processing plant wasn't much deeper down in the hive but it was a few days away on foot and the three had to travel carefully. The rat lords were a new gang so the three were uncertain on their territory and having been on the surface much more than they usually were, they also had to watch that the territories of the other gangs hadn't also moved. At one point during the second day traveling the three had to press themselves behind a tattered banner into a tiny crawlspace as something hulking came crashing down the corridor outside. They waited for a solid 20 minutes and even as they left could still faintly hear it as it got into a fight with something equally loud. The roaring could be heard in the tunnels all night and the three encountered even fewer workers the next day.

But, four days after they had left, the three found their first sign of the Rat lords. A dead rat had been riveted onto a wall above a spray painted sign reading 'Rat Lords Rule'. It was crude, even for a hive gang but the dead Skull Crusher gang member being munched on by much more lively rats also nailed to the wall underneath got the idea across pretty effectively the three agreed. The Slag processing plant was a huge complex. An open space in the underground area, lit with spotlights stretched out in front, with buildings built around some of the hive's massive foundation pillars. Chutes in the ceiling frequently rattled out chunks of industrial waste into the largest piles. However, some had begun to clog and it didn't take a genius to work out why. Various gang members were dotted around the many gantries round the outside of the plant and a great deal of activity seemed to be going on, plant workers in chains digging out the piles as other gang members whipped them.

"What're they doin' ya think?" Buttercup asked the others. "I mean why take the 'ole plant?"

"Look at the ways they's gettin' the workers to dig. They's lookin' for more gold I'll bet." Tulip replied from where the three lay, a currently empty and very rusty outlet pipe maybe three hundred meters from the outer gantries. The spot gave them a good view of things while being inaccessible enough that they were pretty certain the Rat lords wouldn't have been able to reach it.

"An' that means that Chimney was right! They's really did find sommin' out here, a real golden tank!" Daisy grinned at the others. "They's wouldn'ta put the effort in if there was nothin'!"

"The trick is how to we's get ta it?" Tulip asked her. "They's got tha' place pretty locked down... Don' think even we'll be able ta' sneak past all them and we still don't know where it is..."

"Well, ya might not have ta' worry about that one, look!" Buttercup exclaimed, pointing across the yard. A group of the enslaved workers were pushing a massive transport sled. And, on it's back was what they'd been looking for. A tank, one that at least had been bright gold and red at one point (though now was very dirtied by soot) sat on it's back. It was much larger than they'd expected, almost twice the length of their old Devil Dog and slightly wider and it didn't seem to have any visible tracks. Two long barreled repeating guns of a type the girls didn't recognize were mounted on a turret at the back and a pair of what looked to be heavy bolters were mounted on it's front.

Daisy whistled, impressed. "Oi oi, look at that! What kinda tank is that?!"

"No idea, I've never seen anythin' like it! Is it Xenos?" Tulip replied, equally impressed.

"I don' think so... look, it's got bolters on it!" Buttercup pointed out. "Still, one thing's for certain."

Daisy smiled at the others. "Yeah. We gotta get us that tank! Oi, 'old up, you hear shootin?"

She was right. The sounds of gunfire were beginning to ring out across the complex, irregular as if many different mismatched weapons were firing at once.

"Another gang I'll bet. We'll never get to it if they's gonna be fightin' over it... what ta do?..." Tulip mused. They could see the gang members taking cover around the sled and starting to fire back at something out of their line of sight.

"Hmm... I know! If we's could find that thing that chased us and lure it out here, maybe it could be a distraction!" Buttercup suggested. "After all we could still hear it yesterday, it's gotta be close!"

But, after half an hour of searching the local tunnels, they'd had no luck. Sounds of gunfire still rattled down the tunnels but they could no longer hear the roars of the creature from before. However...

"Oi oi, what's this? Like a big 'ol beetle, kinda?" Daisy asked the others. Crawling in the sludge at the bottom of a particularly soggy tunnel was a centipede-ish insect the size of a dog! It's shell was a dull brown, but it's beady red eyes were focused on the trio.

"I dunno but I'm not liking it!" Tulip said, cautiously drawing her stun baton. The three had elected to hang onto theirs after the last match and it turned out to be a good thing they had! The creature let out a screech and leapt forwards at Daisy! Tulip was ready for this though and swung her baton, which hit the bug in the neck with a crack of electricity that caused it to spasm! The bug crashed to the ground but quickly recovered, screeching even louder and getting to it's feet! However Buttercup had already moved in and struck at it's head, her baton turned up to it's maximum! It jolted as a visible bolt of electricity shorted through the creature! As it screeched once more she could see wisps of smoke coming from it's throat but it still wasn't dead! It lunched, it's mandibles getting a grip on Buttercup's arm but before it could do any damage, Daisy booted it in the side, not even bothering with her baton! Sensing victory the three piled in on it, beating it with foot and baton! Though it writhed and tried to scrabble to it's feet the three didn't let up and a few moments later, the battle was over.

"Hah... haaaaah... man that thing was tougher than it looked... you alright Buttercup?" Daisy asked her friend, concerned.

"Y-yeah. It didn' have time to bite down. Thanks for the help Daisy!" Buttercup replied, checking her arm. It had squeezed pretty hard but didn't seem to have done any real damage. "You ok Tulip-oh..." she trailed off.

Tulip was fine, though clearly out of breath. However, when Daisy had turned around she'd seen what was standing barely ten meters down the tunnel.

It was enormous, taller than all three of them combined and even wider still. It's exoskeleton was a deep blue while it's underbelly was a pale white. Two massive serrated tusks almost as long as they were tall jutted out from under it's six segmented insect-like eyes. Unlike the smaller creature, all three knew immediately what it was.

"AMBULL! RUN FOR IT GIRLS!" Daisy yelled and took off at a sprint, closely followed by the others.

"What in the warp is an Ambull doing up here?!" Tulip yelled as she ran for dear life. The Ambull had roared at the noise from Daisy and had leaned forwards into a lumbering charge towards them!

"I dunno, just run!" Buttercup replied, panting to catch up as she had yet to catch her breath. The three had all heard of the Ambull, the creature was a legend in many a hive but as far as they knew no-one on Agarn had ever actually seen one. They were famously aggressive and strong, and were known to be able to break through some tank Armour given the chance! The three skidded around a corner, diving down a narrow section of tunnel as the Ambull crashed towards them! It hammered into the wall, unable to turn as fast as the girls could but it bounced off and kept running! The massive pipes along one side that kept the section of tunnel so thin were smashed out of it's way but it was enough to slow it as the three shuffled sideways as fast as they could! Though they could still see it, the three had managed to put some distance between them and it as the Ambull was now having to rip the pipes out of the way to get through! Oil rushed down the tunnel from the split pipe, drenching the raging beast but it didn't seem to care even as the three struggled to stay upright as the oil got on their shoes!

"Keep goin', I see light!" Daisy called back to the others! A few moments later she emerged out into an open area. Tulip scrambled out and crashed into her, knocking over both of them! Buttercup was out a few moments later, reaching down and heaving the two to their feet!

"Is he still followin'?" Tulip asked, panting.

"Yes he is, we gotta get goin'! Wait, where are we?" she asked, realizing she didn't know.

The three turned around in unison. There was a whole wall of people, both looking and pointing various guns at them. All of them had one thing in common, a crude emblem of a rat wearing a crown on the front of their uniforms. That was the only thing that they had in common though, there were men and women of every age and even a few abhumans, most notably a huge Ogryn with an equally massive shotgun. Several showed signs of injury, both old and recent. Many bodies, both of workers, rat lords and members of another gang were scattered around the area.

"Hey... I know you three!" one of them said. He was a tall man, with a huge red burn mark down one side of his face and only one eye. "You three were the ones that finished off Markov, aincha? You know ya did us a big favor!"

"Ah, no problem..." Daisy said cautiously, painfully aware of the sounds of impending doom approaching behind them.

"Y-yeah, glad we's could help..." said Tulip, also very aware that the group wasn't lowering their weapons.

"Of course, you did still cost my an eye... so if you three want to leave, I'll be taking one of yours from each of you. It's only fair after all." he continued.

"Look, I getcha, you ain' happy but this really isn't the time-" Daisy tried to say but he cut them off.

"Oh I think this is exactly the time. Although, I guess that matter does deserve some attention. Men, take aim! Fire down the tunnel!" he called. The group let rip as the three girls hit the ground, ducking under the hail of bullets and las-fire! The Ambull roared having just reached the entrance but the hail of fire was impressive and even it backed off, disappearing into the gloom of the tunnel!

"Oh, I see you three found quite the trouble? I wonder, did one of these gentlemen put you up to luring that thing here?" he mused, kicking the dying body of one of the rival gang-members, who groaned weakly in response. The three girls were still on the ground, considering options. They all knew they couldn't run as things were but were struggling to see what else they could do. However, fate was on their side. There was a sudden rhythmic thudding from down the tunnel and a moment later a huge segment of pipe was hurled out of the tunnel exit, striking the gang members like a bowling ball! The Rat Lords were sent flying or crushed at it's impact, wails of pain and screams following in it's wake! As it did the Ambull came hurtling out the now clear tunnel, flanked by maybe thirty of the centipede creatures! The three decided immediately that running was the best choice and the gang seemed to half agree. Some gang who were braver or more foolish stood and fired into the crowd of approaching bugs or at the Ambull but all ignored the girls. The rest followed their example and ran, some diving for cover while others made a break for the far side of the compound. One of the bugs snapped at Tulips foot but Buttercup lept on it from behind, spring-boarding off it's back and slamming it into the ground!

"Head for the tank, it's the best cover we'll get!" Daisy called and the others nodded, following behind her and trying not to look back at the sounds of battle. Blood suddenly splattered down one side of Daisy's back and face as a mighty swing from the Ambull eviscerated a man's back but she didn't stop to look, instead continuing to run! As they reached the sled the three scrambled up, trying not to look at the dead workers by the sled as they climbed up the front guns to get to the front hatch.

"Damnit, open!" Daisy cried out as she heaved at the hatch. Tulip moved in to try and help but the hatch was locked and it wouldn't move!

"DUCK!" Buttercup called, and just in time. The Ogryn gang-member had been hurled clear across the hard by the Ambull and smashed off the side of the turret with a tremendous crunch, narrowly missing the group! Though he was still alive he was bleeding massively down the hatch but the three continued to pull nevertheless, desperate for the cover it could provide! Suddenly, there was a click! Tulip had found the lock and the hatch came loose, though it was incredibly heavy! The three heaved as one, and the hatch that was far bigger than a human would need gradually came open! Daisy scrambled through then lifted from the inside, letting the other two in with her! It clanged shut behind them, and for a moment the three were left in darkness, the only light coming from the vision slit in the front window. For a few seconds, the three tried to catch their breath.

"Who's... there?..." came a man's voice from behind the three. It was a very strange voice, both deep, loud and beautiful but also labored sounding, as though the owner was struggling to speak. The three turned as one, but in the darkness couldn't see it's source. "I said... who's there?..."

"U-uh, M-my name's Daisy..." she answered, the only one of the three to speak. For some reason, though the voice didn't seem to be hostile she felt on edge, like she did when the Commissar was nearby.

"Not the name of a gang member..." the voice sounded again before devolving into a fit of coughing. "Who are you Daisy?..."

"I-I'm with the Imperial guard!" she answered, her voice faltering, starting to wonder if they wouldn't have been safer outside, though the screaming seemed to suggest otherwise.

"And your friends?"

"I'm Buttercup, and t-this is Tulip..." Buttercup stammered. Something about the voice scared her worse than the Ambull had and she could feel Tulip shaking slightly next to here. "W-we're also in the Guard... W-who are you?"

"Me?..." the voice said. "...It's been so long since I've talked to anyone... My name is Arandel." the voice told them. There was a sudden click from the direction of the voice and red lighting came on, filling the interior. The three gasped in unison. At the far end of the tank was the largest human the girls had ever seen. Taller and wider even than a ogryn, he was wearing gold and red power armour that matched the colours of the tank. One shoulder was formed into the shape of an eagle's beak and wings. "I'm an imperial Custodian."

"A... what now?..." Tulip asked confused.

"I dunno, is that a kind of space marine?" Buttercup replied, equally confused.

"To explain simply, I am part of the emperor's personal guard." he told the three. "Though you would not think it to look at me..." he said, wincing with pain. One massive arm, as wide as Daisy's body moved and the three realized why he wasn't moving. There was a bloody, dark hole in the giant's side. Something had punched through the more flexible waist area of his armour and though it wasn't currently bleeding it had clearly had quite the effect. "Young Guards-women... I have an order for you. I was sent here on a mission to investigate a dire plot taking place under this hive. I have learned much but before I could leave my partner was killed by the one that wounded me. Though between us we wounded them enough to drive them off, few if any can stand against a Custodian. Their presence and what I have learned MUST be reported to this planet's governors as soon as possible but in my state I cannot man this Caladius, and I can tell there are already those outside that wish to claim it. I need you to assist me in reaching the surface!"

"Oi Oi, 'eavy stuff... Well, ain' like I know 'ow to drive this thing! Whaddya think we give the man a hand eh girls?" Daisy asked the three, determination returning to her voice.

"Sure! Though ah... 'ow do we drive this? I mean it's got no tracks or wheels..." Buttercup asked as she looked for the tanks controls but everything was the wrong scale, and she wasn't really sure what to look for.

"I can teach you, give me a hand in reaching the controls over there." he told her. Tulip moved under his shoulder to help him, and almost immediately regretted it. It was immediately clear that even in this state Arandel could crush her with one hand and he probably weighed twenty times what she did. In fact it took all three of them just to help him get to his feet, and by the time he'd staggered across to what they assumed was the driver's seat the three were all out of breath again!

"Right, you're tallest Buttercup so you will drive. I appreciate the controls are the wrong scale for a normal human but you'll just have to do what you can. Tulip, you will act as gunner. Daisy, I will command while you spot targets for us." he told the three, directing them to the right stations. Unlike their old Hellhound, which had only a small pict-screen to look through, the Caladius had a whole bank of screens with cameras covering a full 360 degree view around the vehicle and even a duplicate of the main turret camera's view. There was a built in internal vox set as opposed to them having to wear their own, and the whole thing just seemed higher quality overall. There was a sudden throbbing noise as the tank's engine powered up, though whatever was powering it certainly wasn't the same as the engine in their Hellhound. It was quieter, but somehow she could tell it was massively more powerful. However this thought was wiped from her mind moments later as she felt the whole tank rise! Under Arandel's supervision Buttercup had started the tank's grav plates and it was now floating a couple of meters above the sled! The thrumming gravitational force was steadily pulverizing said sled and the rockcrete around it, but inside it was still relatively quiet.

"Alrighty, I think I've got this..." Buttercup said as the tank begun to move forward. The sounds of the tanks main jet turbines spooling up could now be heard steadily growing in pitch. It jolted forwards-then sideways, and then crashed into a pillar!

"Alright, what didja' do?" Tulip asked her, bemusedly.

"Sorry! These controls are real 'eavy, but also real twitchy!" Buttercup called back apologetically. It took her a lot of effort to get the controls moving but the tank reacted almost immediately once she did, and she could feel how fast it must be once it got moving.  
"They're not built for Guardsmen, I could re-calibrate them but not here. Do what you can, take us the most direct route out! Daisy, start picking targets!"

"Alrighty! Right, let's see... ah, that Ambull's coming towards us! Right side Tulip!" Dasiy called. Tulip moved the controls for the turret but was too slow and the Ambull crashed into the side of the tank, claws first! But, instead of ripping into it effortlessly as it had the pipework, or the gang members, it smashed off the side with a howl of pain!

"It... it didn' even dent us! What's this thing made of?" Tulip asked, trying to get the turret onto the Ambull but like Buttercup she was struggling with the somehow too heavy yet too sensitive controls. It also didn't help that the handles and triggers were far too big for her.

"Auramite! And this may be the only time you three ever see it so make the most of it! Even Ceramite and Adamantine can't compare to how resilient it is!" Arandel explained. He seemed to have recovered a bit more of his strength and was moving about the tank, occasionally pressing controls that the girls didn't know the purpose of but the tank seemed to be holding as steady as it could with the twitchy controls.  
"Gotcha! Eat some o' these!" Tulip called out, finally getting the turret pointed at the Ambull. The two barrels span up and suddenly let rip with twin beams of laser fire! These beams were brighter than the lascannons of their other tanks, and sliced straight through the Ambull, it's body turning to blazing flame where it was struck! As the turret swept round the beams incinerated gang members caught in it's sights! However, it was at this point that the tank swung around again, Buttercup losing control for a moment. The beams cut straight through the support column they'd been next too, and with a grinding noise it begun to crack and shift!

"Oi oi, time ta' move it or lose it! Take us outta 'ere Buttercup! 'ead for the tunnel!" Daisy called as the pillar completely gave! The ceiling was beginning to crack as the turbines spooled up and it shot forward, heading for a larger tunnel next to the one they'd came in from. Their tank struck the wire fencing but it simply smashed it out the way, barely slowing! Some of the still active gangers took potshots at them as they passed but they bounced harmlessly off their armour, and the tank shot off down the tunnel, riding the wall as it curved round!

"This thing really moves! Wot a find eh?" Daisy whooped as the tank roared through the tunnels, scattering workers and gangers alike at it's passing!

"You were looking for this tank?" Arandel asked, confused.

"Ah, kinda. Our mate tol' us about it!" Tulip explained from up in the turret, still keeping an eye out for more targets. "A tank that shines like gold she said!"

"We's never thought she'd actually be right on that one though!" Buttercup followed up "I mean who'd 'ave thought sommin' like this could really be down 'ere?"

"I see... and why did you want a tank? You seem a rather odd little group even if you are in the guard." Arandel pressed. The three spent the next few minutes explaining to him about the tournament and how they'd ended up in their situation, while the tank continued to climb upwards at a pretty impressive rate. Buttercup was starting to get the hang of the controls though they still didn't feel right to her and she was still having to fight them.

"Ah, I see. But you understand this vehicle is a relic, I cannot simply hand it over. Still, you have saved the life of a custodian and that does not happen often, far less so for it to be ordinary mortals that do so. I shall see what I can do once we reach the surface." he told them. "However, you should turn the turret around. I can hear something."

Tulip couldn't hear a thing from the outside from inside the tank, and spun it around. He was right. From around another tunnel leading off to the side came a whole squad of what were presumably gangers on motorbikes! They shot around the corner in formation, before a quad bike followed up from behind. It was clear they were chasing them as they opened up with their weapons!

"Try the second setting on the gun!" Arandel called. "Start with the leader!"

Tulip obeyed almost without realizing, pressing the switch he indicated then opening up! Rather than the continuous beams, the barrels began to fire in extremely rapid bursts! The biker squad scattered but one of the shots landed and the bike flipped, flames trailing as the rider was thrown off! Tulip continued to sweep across the group but they were infuriating to hit, ducking and weaving with some incredible reactions! Still it couldn't save them in the narrow tunnels and another blew up the moment the beam hit it, knocking two more of them off their rides!

"Keep it up Tulip! Get that quad!" Daisy called, pointing it out for her. It was getting worryingly close to their tank at this point-and her worries were proven founded as the quad opened up with it's weapon! A laser struck their left turbine and it blew out, skewing sideways! It crushed several more bikers under it's gravitational wash as it flew over them and smashed off a wall, throwing the crew out of their seats as it span to a halt! Buttercup gave a scream of pain, and Daisy would probably have done the same but she'd had the wind completely knocked out of her and could do nothing but gasp! Tulip seemed to have been knocked out by the crash entirely and was slumped in her seat.

"...aaaaahhhhh ow ow ow!" Daisy groaned a few moments later as she finally re-gained the ability to speak. Arandel was picking himself up off the floor of the tank, and if anything looked more awake than he had done earlier.

"Are you all alright?" he asked them. Daisy groaned in return, then moved over to check Buttercup.

"Everything hurts..." Buttercup replied, wincing. Her hands and back had finally been starting to feel better and now both had flared up with pain again, but she was still with them. "T-Tulip!" she cried out, sprinting over to her. "Speak to me!"

"I can hear her heartbeat, she lives still though she may be hurt. Tend to her. My armour's automatic injectors were supposed to have given me adrenaline earlier but were damaged. That crash has finally re-activated them. I will check the outside, I doubt our pursuers will leave us so quickly..."

He pushed open the hatch with one hand and exited the tank. There was an immediate screeching noise and yelling, and the clanking of weapons on armour! Daisy turned from her spot by Tulip who was now being looked over by Buttercup and looked at the screens. Arandel was moving like a demon, smashing aside the gangers with his fists! Many of them were armed with axes and pistols but they were useless against his armour and he flung them aside, throwing them into walls hard enough to break their bones! More seemed to be appearing from around various corners or from service hatches but it wasn't enough. Arandel drew from his back a massive power axe and laid into the crowd! His first blow alone split six people in half effortlessly and his second was if anything more devastating, using the back of the axe like a club and sweeping ten more aside as bolter fire blasted out from the head taking out two more! But before Daisy could see any more there was a sudden scrabbling at the tank's hatch above her head! It was pulled open and a face appeared, nearly human but warped and mutated strangely with massive veins throbbing on it's scalp! Daisy struck at it with her stun baton but it's reflexes were incredible and it caught the baton! His hand was strangely elongated and clawed, and it caught her across the face with a swipe, cutting her cheek and nose! With a cry Daisy fell back, and the thing readied itself to strike Tulip! But before she could even call out Arandel's axe struck it, this time with the power part of the axe switched on. The figure never stood a chance. The power field around the axe gave off a BANG and the man was obliterated, splattering the wall as it swung around to strike two more in the same stroke!

"Alright, I think that is all of them." Arandel called. Daisy looked at the screens. The tank was coated with the remains of their mysterious attackers, blood and a mysterious purple substance dripping down it's sides. He was holding a struggling figure one handed, his own armour also drenched in remains and fluids, an axe jammed in one of it's joints but seemingly unharmed. "You however, should give me some answers."

"I'll never talk!" they called out in a slightly strangled voice.

"You won't have to. The techpriests can force the info out of your head, and we'll stick you in a servitor after if you won't talk. You've attacked one of the emperor's personal guard, not some mere merchant. Now tell me, who do you work for mutant?!"

The man looked like he was going to resist but Arandel squeezed and he suddenly changed track.  
"Alright, alright, I'll talk! I-" but he was cut off, literally. There was a bang from back down the tunnel and his neck burst, his head bouncing off the side before being crushed under the still pounding gravitational thrusters of their tank!

"I see. They'd rather kill him that let him talk. I suppose that's consistent at least." he said as the sound of a bike headed into the distance from down the tunnel.

"D-do we chase after them?" Daisy asked him, still feeling a little stunned, absent-mindedly touching the sore marks on her face and bringing them back red with blood.

"No. No we need to reach the surface. I'm not sure I'll be able to do that again in my current condition." he responded as he re-entered the tank, then slumped against the control panel. "We won't be able to reach full speed with a damaged engine but we should be able to make it out."

And, to their extreme relief they did. It seemed that if there was any more of their attackers they were biding their time, and the party were not attacked any further. By the evening when they finally returned to the depot the three were exhausted, though Tulip had awakened and aside from a headache did not seem severely wounded, though was very confused as to what was going on. The whole team was gathered outside, having just finished practice for the day and all eyes were on them as the hatch opened and the three stepped out followed by Arandel, battered, bruised, covered in blood and in Daisy's case scarred.

"W-what?" Dullahan asked, stunned for the first time they'd ever seen.

"M-Maam, we found a tank... permission to be excused?..." Daisy asked, arm lifted in a weak salute.

"I.. ah, Granted. Good umm... good work..." she said, glancing at the giant now standing behind them in sheer confusion.

"Oh... good..." Daisy weakly responded, then with little fuss passed out, the others catching her before she could fall.

"Uh-um, is there anywhere we could take her? I don't think we want to go back to the underhive today..." Buttercup asked the group apologetically.

"Y-yeah, you three do have bunks assigned even if you've never used them, I'll show you the way!" Susan piped up, gesturing to the barracks and taking Daisy from the two, lifting her bodily with considerably more easy. Kant and the rest of their team followed, one of them drawing a medical kit from their pack to tend to their wounds.

"You are in charge I assume Commander?" Arandel asked Dullahan, after watching them leave.

"Yes my Lord!" Dullahan responded, snapping to a salute. "And what are you all waiting for? Salute!" she called to the group, who responded automatically. "You are in the presence of one of the Adeptus Custodes!"

"At ease, commander, I have no time for ceremony. There is a situation in the under-hive of this city and I need to warn command as soon as possible. Can I trust your squadron to look after my Callidus until I return? I may be a few days, I am in need of medical attention but warning command comes first. If you think you can effect repairs on it then please do."

"O-of course! Horse team, attend to this tank on the double! Get that Trojan round and tow it into Wrath's spot, it's the only one big enough for it."

"At once Commander!" Starsaky responded. Her eyes were practically shining behind the lenses of her face mask and their third member was making excitable bhinaric noises. They could all tell that it was something special and were very much looking forward to working on it.

"Wolf team, take your Russ and escort the Custodes to command. If anyone tries to stop you, you have full permission to fire on them. This order is absolute. You understand?"

"Yes Ma'am!" Nanta replied with a salute, gesturing for Arandel to follow, who perched himself on the roof of the Russ by the turret being too large to fit in it's hatches as the tank set off.

"Sargent, there's a spare scout sentinel in the garage, take it and keep an eye on them, just in case."

"Of course Ma'am, right away!" Sarge replied, immediately moving into a jog to follow.

"D-do you want the rest of us to help Ma'am?" Baal asked her, looking confused as to what was happening.

"No, I think that'll be alright. I can't imagine they'll actually be attacked on the way, and Sarge will call in if they are. Ah, what's this?" she asked. A single soldier had arrived, with a small trolley stacked with a few boxes.

"Delivery Ma'am." the soldier answered her. "From the ministration. Purification on the Hellhound is still in progress, but they have returned the items from inside."

"Dog team's possessions... strange, I'd have expected them burned-oh!" Dullahan was suddenly interrupted as, tripping somewhat, the soldier fell and the boxes were scattered! One crate broke open and pots of desert tumbled out!

"Those... are the missing desert rations! How did they?..." Bea trailed off, her and the other ratlings looking stunned.

"They must have been the ones that stole them! They were the ones that dug that tunnel!" Midge exclaimed.

"Dog team really were stealing them to sell!" Catherine piped up. "They lied to us!"

"But they can't have put them in there!" one of Scorpion team called back. "Their tank got taken by the priests right?"

"No, they could have been in there since before even the match! I'll be they were keeping them in their Hellhound, and moved them to the box during the match!" Bluebottle replied angrily!

"ENOUGH!" Commissar Blue suddenly called out, drowning out the group's voices. "Accusing your fellow squadron members of theft is a serious accusation and not one that should just be thrown around! There's a serious penalty for it! Are you willing to risk that when your only evidence is a single crate that could have just been mislaid with this delivery? If you are I will take the steps to investigate but I would not call this a good start! Besides, it was Horse team that placed all those crates in your tanks. If they'd found a stockpile of deserts like you said, they'd have reported it! If you really wish to pursue this investigation, start with them, then get back to me but for now, I recommend you keep quiet and allow Dog team to rest. It's pretty clear to me that they've been working very hard and they deserve the break."

There was silence at these words.

"Well well Blue, I've never heard you stick up for the troops like that before." Dullahan told her, seemingly amused at this sudden turn. "However, she is correct. If you wish to make that claim, bring us proof. What you have for now is not enough. But for today you will allow them to rest. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Ma'am!" Midge replied, saluting. "You heard the commander. I personally am not sure what to think, but she's right. If we want to make a case on this, we'll need to look into it. Let's head out for now."

And as the groups headed out, a pair of eyes, watching from under a drain cover watched on, and waited...

(Authors Note: So, this was new, an entire chapter focused on a single team! It's nice getting to focus a bit more but next time will be on what the rest of the teams have been up to while all this was happening. What with the whole virus thing I've got plenty of free time so it's possible the wait between episodes won't be quite as long, but I've said that before so I wouldn't hold your breath, just rest assured the series is never forgotten by me, just on extended hold. Next time on Girls Und Warhammer: From out of the Cold, a face she once knew!)


End file.
